


Duplicity

by Illeana Starbright (SunlightOnTheWater)



Series: Broken Wings [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Damian is Dick's de-aged clone, F/M, Gen, brief crossover with Arrow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-19
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-03-08 06:40:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 46,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3199274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunlightOnTheWater/pseuds/Illeana%20Starbright
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Bat family is falling apart. Bruce Wayne is gone, leaving Dick struggling to hold everything together as villains cause chaos throughout Gotham. Meanwhile Damian is having strange dreams of a life he almost remembers living. A life that might just be the key to save everything he's beginning to hold dear. Slowly being imported from FanFiction.net</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part I, Chapter I

_"Wake up my child," a familiar voice cooed in his ear. He blinked open sleep heavy eyes as his mother leaned over him. A firm grip curled around his shoulder, pulling him upright, and the urgency in her green gaze set his heart to pounding. Footsteps rushed by the bedroom door and his mother tensed. He watched her with narrowing eyes, wondering why she felt frightened inside the safety of their own home. The footsteps faded away yet his mother did not relax._

_"Mother?" he questioned but she gently shushed him, pulling him to his feet and guiding him out of the room_. Damian woke with a gasp, eyes straining to see anything in the darkness of his bedroom. Below him footsteps thundered about. The boy's head tilted curiously and he slid out of bed. Almost everyone in Wayne Manor kept a nocturnal schedule but normally they were in the so called Batcave now, or patrolling. Father was away on a mission so Grayson had come from Bludhaven to patrol with Drake and the insufferable Stephanie Brown some time after he'd gone upstairs to his room. They shouldn't have been home yet, let alone thundering around downstairs like a herd of wild animals driven mad with sickness. Damian retrieved one of his blades and left the room behind.

* * *

Dick Grayson had just spent a long night patrolling and it was only going to get longer. Bruce was dead. Diana had come, still clothed in her Wonder Woman garb, to give them the message. There had been a mission gone wrong and Bruce was dead. Tim was storming around the downstairs, a mixture of disbelieving and depressed. Stephanie was watching him pace, brown eyes wide. "He can't be dead," Tim was currently insisting, hands clenched into trembling fists. "He's too smart for that, right?" Pleading baby blue eyes turned towards Dick.

"I'm sorry," he replied helplessly. Tim's reddened eyes welled with tears.

"What are you doing?" Damian's sharp demand startled Tim, the current Robin whirling around. Damian was standing at the bottom of the stairs, a sword in hand. The sight of him took Dick's breath away. The oldest adopted Wayne hadn't seen the boy who was secretly his clone for ten long years. The boy's mouth was set in a stubborn line, hand holding the sword naturally. He was tiny for a ten year old and Dick was struggling to believe that he'd ever been that small. Most surprising though were his eyes. They were almost the same sharp green as Talia al'Ghul's. Dick's had only ever been blue. Still Bruce had mentioned that the beam which had turned Damian into an infant had also changed him somehow.

"Why do you care?" Tim snapped back, instantly. Damian's lips twisted up into a sneer, chin lifted as if Tim was far, far below him.

"When you go about disturbing my sleep I do," the boy responded. Dick decided in that moment that this very scene could settle the entire argument about nature versus nurture. Damian was very different at ten than Dick remembered being.

"Lay off Damian," Stephanie snapped at the boy who turned his sneer upon her.

Before the brewing argument could turn into an all out brawl Dick said, "Damian." The sound of his name caught the boy's attention and Dick realized the pair of them had yet to actually meet face to face. Green eyes narrowed suspiciously and Tim let out a frustrated huff.

"Dick, this is Damian," the boy said, hand waving jerkily back and forth. "Damian, our oldest brother.

"Tt," the younger boy huffed at Tim before seeming to take Dick's measure.

"What is going on here? I demand to know why my sleep has been disturbed."

"Damian," Dick said gently. "We've just received news that Bruce was killed." For a moment Damian simply stared at the older boy. Then he let out a little laugh.

"It's not a joke Dami," Stephanie said and the boy glared at her.

"Do not call me that," he demanded. Then something in his expression froze as her words sunk in. "What do you mean?"

"How much does he know?" Dick asked his younger brother.

"He's Talia al'Ghul's son," was the sharp reply. "How much do you think he knows?" Dick ignored Tim's rudeness, knowing the boy was still struggling to face the fact that Bruce was dead. Similarly he ignored the fact that Tim truly believed Damian was Talia's son. No one but J'onn J'onnz, Bruce, and Dick knew who Damian really was.

"Bruce went out on a League mission," Dick told his youngest brother. "And was killed on duty." For a moment Damian's expression faltered and Dick saw the ten year old hiding underneath the ice. Then the mask slipped back into place so quickly that Dick almost thought he had been imagining things.

"I'm telling you, Bruce is not dead," Tim insisted, his expression heartbreakingly lost as he turned toward Dick.

"Then you are being foolish Drake," Damian said, voice cold. "Father is dead." Then the boy turned on his heel and made his way up the stairs, presumably heading for his bedroom. Dick watched him go for a moment before trying to calm Tim down. He was beginning to get the sinking feeling that the next few days were going to be exactly like this.

* * *

From her position tucked away in the clock tower, Barbara Gordon was fighting away the urge to be sick or cry. She'd long ago been inducted into the Batclan, back when Dick had been running around with his ridiculous crush on her, and she'd heard her friend and sometimes boyfriend's voice shake when he'd informed her of Bruce's death over the com link. Now she was the only one left watching the streets of Gotham, trying to calm down so she could even consider going to sleep. Her fingers tapped nervously over the desktop and her eyes burned with unshed tears as memories of good times patrolling with a cheerful Dick and a mostly silent and ever watchful Bruce tried to overwhelm her.

For a moment all the red head could do was sob silently, crying as she had not since the doctors had confirmed her fears that she would never be able to walk again. After minutes releasing shuddering sobs she gathered her poise and wiped away her tears, replacing her glasses on her nose. If she was this broken up about Bruce's death then Dick would probably be ten times worse but holding it inside for the sake of his younger siblings. He wouldn't talk to her about it either, trying to be the leader for all of them since Bruce was gone. If left unchecked, his feelings would simply burn away everything inside of him until he'd simply break.

Barbara's fingers began their tapping again as she considered their options. They needed Dick. With Bruce dead and Jason too volatile to be of any help the task would go to him to take up the mantle of leader, whether in the form of Batman or Nightwing, and protect the city. Furthermore, Gotham would not simply remain silent to give the Batclan time to grieve. Someone would need to talk to Dick, be there for him so he wouldn't break. The oldest child wouldn't let any of the family do that for him but he had many friends, most of which would drop everything to come if he called them. Not that he would call.

Fingers flying across the keyboard, eyes fixed on the string of code she was typing, Barbara missed the figure in the red hood flying across rooftops towards her clock tower. Instead she was going through the complicated process of contacting Felicity Smoak. Roy Harper and Wally West were two of Dick's oldest friends. The three were brothers in all but blood and adoption papers but while Wally's new duties as the Flash wouldn't allow him to drop everything and come, Roy's might. Barbara knew Roy had split from Oliver again, the pair argued as often as Dick and Bruce had, and become Arsenal. The red head also knew that if anyone could contact him easily and swiftly it would be Felicity Smoak.


	2. Part I, Chapter II

Barbara had just signed off from her chat with Felicity, and it was always nice to talk to another woman who knew the business and understood tech lingo, when her alarms began wailing. A quick tap of her fingers brought up the cameras surrounding the clock tower, allowing her to catch a glimpse of brown leather and something shiny and red. The red head frowned at that. What did _he_ want?

She carefully removed the Batarang she'd taped underneath her computer desk, holding it easily despite the fact that it had been several years since she'd been able to jump across rooftops. Dick had told her once that it was like riding a bike. He was right. A clack of her keyboard silenced the wailing alarms, allowing her to listen for any sign of possible danger. To be honest, Barbara wasn't sure whether or not there would be trouble. _He_ hadn't been causing any trouble in Gotham lately and if you talked to Dick about a month ago you knew that Nightwing had gotten help with the local drug lords. Maybe _he_ was just curious about why Nightwing, Batgirl, and Robin had retired early. Or why Wonder Woman had even been allowed inside Gotham City limits without Batman around.

"Batgirl." Barbara bit down a sigh at the greeting and maneuvered her chair around so they could face one another. _He_ had trouble moving out of the past. Well if he'd come here for news, he was about to get blasted out of it.

"Red Hood," she replied calmly, settling the Batarang in her lap. "And it's Oracle now. You know that." She couldn't see his face because of the stupid helmet but she could still picture the face he was making at her. "What brings you to my lair?"

"I want to know what's going on," he demanded.

"Then take off your helmet."

"Why?" The question was wary and, in that moment, despite his broad shoulders and all the height and muscle he'd gained while he was absent from them, all Barbara could see was the scrawny kid who'd teased her and Dick with nursery school rhymes and kissing sounds when they patrolled Gotham together.

"Because I don't want to talk to Red Hood about this," she told him. "I want to talk to Jason."

Barbara fought not to hold her breath as he considered. So far only Dick had managed to convince Jason to peel back his tough exterior to reveal the person Barbara and her sometimes boyfriend had come to love. She was half afraid she'd pushed too far and he'd leave to get his information elsewhere. Then the helmet came off and, despite the domino and the changed hair, she found herself looking at Jason Todd. For a moment she faltered. Dick had been working so hard on trying to win Jason over, convince the younger boy to reconcile with Bruce, and it had been working. Now she might be about to destroy all that work.

"Jason," she said at last, voice heavy with dread and pain. "Bruce is dead."

* * *

During the few times he had visited his mentor, Roy Harper had grown used to being roused at odd times in the night by so called emergencies. Therefore it was no surprise that either Oliver or Artemis was rapping on his door. "What?" he called, hoping that Oliver hadn't found out about Cheshire. If his mentor did discover Roy's affair with the assassin then the younger archer would have to explain that Jade was also pregnant. _Christ_ he so wasn't ready for that discussion.

"You need to get to the cave," Artemis told him and Roy felt a bolt of irritation find its mark squarely in the center of his chest. He'd really been hoping he could sleep after running all over with Jason and Koriand'r on some mission against a drug dealer who did some human trafficking on the side, namely small children. Jason had been pissed, leaving a trail of blood and screams behind him as Kory and Roy had raced after him.

"Why?" he grumbled when Artemis pounded on the door again, as if believing he'd fallen back to sleep after her message.

"I don't know," came the irritated reply. "But it's about Dick." That was enough to send Roy toppling out of bed and scrambling for his things. The archer hadn't heard from the boy he considered his little brother for months now, nor had he initiated contact despite the fact that Nightwing had worked with Arsenal before without hesitation. If there was news coming in about Dick now, and Roy was getting roused at just after three in the morning about it, then doubtless it was nothing good.

* * *

Damian was trembling like a leaf in a very strong wind. He sat in the middle of his bed, arms wrapped around his knees as he stared at the far wall. His room didn't look like it belonged to a ten year old boy. In fact, his room didn't look like it belonged to anyone at all. Instead it appeared as if it were a guest bedroom Damian were only staying in for a while, despite the fact that the ten year old had been living in Wayne Manor for an entire year. The boy was beginning to regret that now. He had nothing inside his room to distract himself from the storm in his head.

It wasn't that he and Father had ever been particularly close. Damian had known the man had existed from the moment he had asked Mother who his father was. Talia had not been a mother who believed in keeping secrets from her children so Damian had often received answers he had wished he would not. Still, after being abandoned on the doorstep of Wayne Manor while Mother fled, leading assassins from their own league away from her only child, Father had been the only family he knew for sure he had. There was a good chance, despite all her skill, that Mother had already been overpowered and killed. Now Father was dead as well and it was very likely that Damian was alone in the world. It was a very frightening prospect for a child, even as unusual a child as Damian.

The boy fought back tears but he couldn't still the shudders that raced through him. He squeezed his arms tighter with a soft whimper and closed his eyes, trying to remember his mother's fingers brushing through his hair when he was sick and her slightly rough voice singing to him in Arabic right before bed when the wind howled. She was becoming a distant memory. Her last visit had been six months ago and she had not managed to send any messages. Damian had given up on ever seeing her again two months ago but now, with his father gone, the wound felt fresh. His stomach clenched and twisted unhappily, threatening to bring up his supper.

For a moment Damian thought he would be able to keep everything down, eyes squeezed shut in a vain attempt to pretend he was curled up in his mother's room while the wind howled outside. Then his stomach revolted and he was scrambling on wobbly legs out the door and down the hall to the nearest bathroom. He was barely curled over the cold white porcelain of the toilet before everything he'd eaten earlier at the silent and awkward dinner he and Tim had eaten was coming back up. The tears he'd been holding back poured free as well, feeling as if they were scorching his cheeks. He was still shaking and retching and sobbing slightly when footsteps approached and a hand began running gentle circles between his shoulders. He was too tired and lost to care that his dignity was gone.


	3. Part I, Chapter III

Dick was exhausted and when he heard retching from the bathroom he knew his night was only going to get longer. Forty-five minutes ago Stephanie had managed to coax Tim into lying down. When Dick had driven the blonde home, Tim had been asleep but now the older boy expected to see him in the bathroom. Instead it was Damian shuddering and sobbing over the toilet. Dick hesitated a moment and then gently settled his hand between Damian's shoulder blades, running it in gentle circles in hopes that he could calm the boy.

Dick had not been in Gotham since Talia had brought Damian to Wayne Manor. Instead he'd been busy with Bludhaven and Bruce had suspected the mental walls J'onn had long ago erected were probably fragile so it was best that Dick stayed away. According to Tim the boy was prickly and acted far older than he actually was. Stephanie had added that Damian was obnoxious, proud, and extremely stubborn but her eyes had gleamed when she'd added that he had promise. Neither Jason, who spent most of his time running around as Red Hood and terrorizing bad guys everywhere with Starfire and Arsenal, nor Dick had actually met the boy. At least not in this incarnation.

As far as Dick knew, Jason had not actually met the clone at all. Damian had spent very little time in Wayne Manor the first time around and once he had become an infant thanks to the Light's last ditch attempt to make their plans succeed he had been given over to Talia. Now the boy was here, with Dick, but he was far different from the person he'd been ten years ago. Still, underneath all the posturing, Damian was a young child and Dick knew how to deal with those.

Damian stopped retching after a few minutes, sniffling as he tried to control his tears. Dick flushed the toilet and scooped the tiny boy up, cradling him close. Damian's cheeks flushed an embarrassed pink and the ten year old buried his head against Dick's shoulder. The boy let out a little upset whimper when Dick shifted him to turn off the light and shut the bathroom door, jostling Damian slightly. Dick grinned as the exhausted ten year old nuzzled closer, still trembling though not as badly as he had been when Dick had first found him.

Dick made his way towards the open bedroom door not bothering to flip the light on. The stream of light filtering into the room from the hall revealed a room that looked more like a prison cell than a child's hideaway. The bedspread was one of the spare cream affairs Alfred kept in a closet,mostly brought out when one of the guest bedrooms needed to be made up, and Dick pulled it and the white sheets beneath it down, trying not to jostle Damian. Then he carefully settled the ten year old down, or tried to.

When he tried to pull away, Damian clung to him tightly, trembling growing worse. "Hey, hey," he cooed, settling down at the edge of the bed and wrapping an arm around the shaking boy. "It's okay." He snaked a hand around to press the back against the boy's forehead, wincing slightly at the heat there, and silently began cursing Bruce for choosing such an inconvenient time to dramatically kick the bucket. Not only was Damian dealing with the loss of a parent, possibly the second one depending on what had happened to Talia, but he was also sick. The unfairness of it all made the older boy want to scream.

Damian was obviously exhausted but the boy refused to stop clinging to Dick, almost as if he were afraid the older boy would vanish the instant he let go. Seeing no other way around it, he gently pried Damian's fingers free, ignoring the little whimper it earned him, and tucked the boy in before settling on top of the sheets so Damian could cling to him again. Instantly tiny fingers were wrapped in his shirt material, clenching so tightly the knuckles turned white. The boy fell asleep that way, fingers fisted in Dick's t-shirt. The older boy followed him swiftly into dream land.

* * *

Jason's first reaction to the news was to throw his helmet. Part of Barbara was shrieking about expensive tech equipment and how difficult it would be to buy new stuff and bring it secretly up to the clock tower to install if any of it was broken. The rest of her knew it was better just to let Jason get it all out. When that boy bottled everything up it never ended well. "How did it happen?" Jason demanded, hands trembling minutely.

"He went on a mission for the League," Barbara told him, trying to remember everything Dick had told her in a shaking voice over his com link. "There was some kind of beam fired. Bruce pushed Diana out of the way and when the beam faded he was gone. They searched every way they could think of but found nothing." Jason's head bowed and a few tears escaped his control, dripping down his cheeks. For a minute, as he trembled and cried softly, Barbara saw the boy who'd been so excited to be Robin. It broke her heart.

What hurt worse was when all emotion vanished from his face. "They all went back to the manor?"

"Yes. Dick was going to call Cass and tell her," Barbara replied, brushing a strand of red hair away from her face. Jason's entire posture said he was tired and she understood that feeling. It was the same kind of tired she'd felt when the cancer had finally taken her mother away. "I have a cot in the back room," she offered. Jason nodded numbly, allowing her to take his hand and guide him out of the room. Hopefully a good night's sleep would erase some of the pain she could already see sinking down on Jason's shoulders. One could hope.

* * *

Roy felt sick. His stomach was rolling as he tossed his duffel into the passenger seat of his car and launched himself over the hood to the driver's side. He peeled out of the driveway, trying to ignore his exhaustion and how his heart was pounding. Batman was dead. It was hard news for Roy to take in and if he was taking it badly then Dick was probably a wreck. A wreck pretending to be strong for the sake of two younger brothers and whoever the current Batgirl was. He sped through town, headlights flashing across signs and buildings.

Oracle had called Felicity, asking for Roy. She'd passed on the news that Batman was dead and requested Arsenal's presence in Gotham. Roy hadn't even thought of refusing. Oliver would be coming to Gotham as soon as he could but for now it would be up to Roy to keep Dick in one piece. Unfortunately the only members of the Batfamily that he had any experience with were Dick, Jason, and Barbara. That meant there were at least two people, possibly three, in Wayne Manor that he'd never met. Still he was there for Dick, and if he could hold the oldest of the Batclan together until Ollie arrived everything would be okay. He hoped.


	4. Part I, Chapter IV

_The lash came down hard on his back and his cry echoed through the whole room. "You're nothing," a voice purred. "Just a broken tool." It was the closest Master had gotten to saying_ those words _and he shuddered, forcing down a whimper. Whimpering would be showing weakness and that was the last thing he wanted to do after a failed mission. The lash came down again, making his back feel as if it were on fire, and a whine escaped him before he could stop it. In the past month since Master had taken him in, he'd gotten better about keeping those noises silent, hiding the fact that he was still sobbing himself to sleep, but not good enough. He braced himself for the next couple blows, knowing that Master would not hold back after that weakness._

Damian woke with a choked off cry of terror. He was soaked in sweat, his stomach twisting worryingly and his heart pounding. His head felt as if it were too heavy to lift and it took a moment for his vision to clear of the tears he'd apparently been crying while he slept. Crying was a weakness, as was needing sleep, and Damian would have gladly done without both. His hand clenched tighter into a fist as he became frustrated with his own inadequacy. His mother had never cried. Even when she was ill and suffering from nightmares she had remained impassive and unreadable. Damian was ashamed to know that he was very little like her. That was when it registered that his hand was clenched around something.

The boy blinked away as much as his exhaustion and disorientation as possible and found himself staring at a slumbering figure. The memories filtered slowly back. He'd gotten sick the night before and Grayson had carried him back to his room. In fact, Damian had gone so far as to cling to Grayson like a foolish toddler instead of the cool and efficient assassin he was supposed to be. The boy's face burned with shame but he couldn't bring himself to release the shirt. Not when he knew Father was gone.

Father was dead, Mother was most likely dead, and sooner or later Grandfather would figure out where he was. Then Damian and what remained of Father's patched together family would be killed. The thought made his stomach roll and he found himself whimpering as he buried his head in the pillow. Grayson mumbled something incoherent and blinked his blue eyes open, staring at Damian uncomprehendingly for a moment before his expression cleared. A gentle hand stroked through Damian's hair and he found himself nudging into the touch. The hand then settled on his forehead for a moment and when Grayson pulled back his hand, he was frowning.

"You're still feverish," the man explained, moving as if to get up. Damian found his grip tightening again without any conscious thought. Part of him was terrified that if he let go, released the person in front of him, he would find himself completely alone. "Hey, it's okay," Grayson cooed, hand settling over Damian's fist. "I'm not leaving you. I just need to grab a thermometer from the bathroom and then I'll be right back." Damian nodded and forced himself to release Grayson's shirt. He closed his eyes, nestled further into the still warm blankets, and tried to tell himself that he wasn't completely alone.

* * *

When the sun rose Barbara wheeled into the back room where she'd gotten Jason settled a few hours only to find the boy gone. If she was being completely honest with herself, which she had done more and more often after the Joker had paralyzed her, she had expected this. Jason was never one for sticking around, even on his best days, and in moments of emotional turmoil he tended towards destroying everything in reach. She was just glad he'd decided not to wreck her computers. For a moment Barbara considered calling Dick and letting him know that there were about to be very dead criminals in the Narrows, then decided against it. The last thing Dick needed right now was another problem placed squarely on his shoulders. Instead she shut down her computers and rolled away, hoping Jason wouldn't cause too much trouble.

* * *

The Wayne household was in chaos. The first thing Roy heard when he was let into the building by Alfred was someone yelling. "Be reasonable," a girl's voice was demanding.

"I am being reasonable!" came sharp response. "Bruce is not dead!"

"I am sorry for all the noise," Alfred apologized, sympathy clear in his warm eyes. "Master Timothy is taking the loss of Master Bruce poorly."

"It's fine," Roy replied, offering the old butler a weak smile.

"I'm sorry Tim," the girl was snapping. "Really I am but Bruce is dead."

"He is not _dead_ ," Tim snarled back.

"Please calm down," Dick's voice cut in.

"Why won't any of you believe me?" Tim wailed and Roy flinched, startled as a boy several years younger than him stormed by, face red with anger and stained by tears. Roy and Alfred exchanged worried glances. Alfred went after the boy who was probably Tim and Roy headed towards the kitchen. An exhausted looking Dick was comforting a very upset blonde girl who looked to be about Tim's age.

"It'll be okay Stephanie," Dick was telling her, voice worn.

"I just don't understand why he's so _angry_ ," Stephanie replied. "Sure he's lost a lot but so have the rest of us and none of us are screaming and throwing a fit about it."

"As far as we know Jason hasn't been told yet," Dick joked tiredly, trying to ease the tension. Instead of calming, Stephanie glared at him.

"How can you be so insensitive about all this?" she demanded and Dick flinched. That was all Roy needed to get him moving.

"Whoa there," he said, stepping up to support Dick who was swaying slightly on his feet. "Dickie isn't the one you're mad at. There's no need to snap at him." Stephanie had the grace to flush slightly but she still looked irritated.

"I'm sorry Steph," Dick added, allowing Roy to make sure he was stable. Seeing that Stephanie softened some.

"I'm going to see if I can calm Tim down," she told him, pausing to awkwardly to pat him on the arm before exiting the kitchen.

"How are you holding up?" Roy asked the younger man and Dick turned tired blue eyes on him.

"Tim's in denial, Stephanie's going through crazy mood swings, Babs was up all night watching the streets, I haven't heard from Jason, and Damian is upstairs sick and terrified that he's going to be abandoned." The words came out in a rush and though Roy appreciated the honesty he did note that Dick was avoiding the question.

"Okay," he said. "And how are you?"

"I don't know," Dick replied, running a hand across his face. "I haven't even had time to let the news sink in." The younger man tried to slip by Roy but the archer reached over to stop him.

"I've known you since you were waist high," Roy said. "I know when you're lying to me Dickie."

"I just-" Dick turned agonized blue eyes to one of his oldest friends. "I can't talk about that right now. My brothers need me."

"I just want you to know that you're not in this alone." That was enough to make Dick hesitate on the bottom step.

"Thanks Roy," Dick said with a barely there smile. Then he placed his foot on the next step, wobbled, and almost crashed to the ground.


	5. Part I, Chapter V

Damian was shuddering all over as if he were caught in a snowstorm. The shadows of the room, so familiar when he'd first woken, had become monsters waiting to swallow him whole. A smooth voice seemed to be whispering in his ear. Although Damian couldn't understand the words the subtly menacing tone was making his shivers progressively worse. Whimpers and tears were forced down with what little will the fever hadn't sapped as his stomach twisted and rolled with unease. The nightmare almost immediately after Father's death had shaken the boy more than he would have liked to admit and Grayson's extended absence wasn't helping. Still Damian had enough pride engrained in him by his mother to keep him from getting up and searching for the older boy. That left him to stay curled in the bed shaking.

Footsteps approached and Damian twitched nervously, one hand snaking under the pillows in search of the knife he knew he kept there. Surprisingly clumsy fingers wrapped too tightly around the hilt and, try as he might, he could not force his body to be still. His throat felt like it was sealing itself as the door slid open, revealing Grayson entering the room support by someone else. Damian brought the knife out from under his pillow, eyes narrowing as he tried to make sense of the scene before him.

Grayson was leaning heavily on a man slightly taller than him, broader in the shoulders too. Damian would have guessed it was Todd but the hair was wrong and something about the stance was just off. Todd, in surveillance footage the boy had hacked his way into, always held himself defensively, as if waiting to be attacked. The constant readiness was something Damian could almost admire in the older boy.

"Hey Damian." Grayson's voice was a low rasp. The man had clearly exhausted himself trying to take care of his younger brothers and Damian felt shame begin to mix with the fear. His shudders grew worse as he struggled to keep a lid on his emotions. He tried to reply but found he couldn't pull in enough air to speak. The knife slid free of numb fingers and Damian batted it away, pushing it back under one of the pillows. He then burrowed his head into the fabric then, hoping to regain his composure.

The bed shifted slightly as Grayson settled down on it and a gentle hand, ran through his hair. "Damian," the older boy murmured. "Look at me, please." Damian shook his head, shudders growing impossibly stronger and hands clenching into fists. He wouldn't. Not until he had control. It would be showing weakness and Damian had done enough of that in the past day to make Mother ashamed. " _Dami_ ," Grayson pleaded and the boy froze.

Normally hearing his mother's nickname for him on anyone else's lips throw him into a fury. Stephanie Brown often enough got snarled at for pulling that name out and the only time Drake had ever used it, Damian had thrown a knife at his head. Father had been very displeased with the action but Tim had never called the younger boy Dami again. Somehow Grayson felt different. The way the man said the nickname, a gentle plea, was so different than the mocking way Brown called it or the annoyed tone Drake had snapped it in. Somehow it just felt right.

Slowly Damian lifted his head, forcing himself to look in Grayson's expression blue eyes. "Oh Damian," Grayson cooed and suddenly the younger boy found himself cuddled close. That was all it took for the tears to break free. He found himself sobbing against Grayson's chest and the shame only made the tears come faster. Grayson cradled him close as he sobbed, cooing gently into his dark hair, and for the first time he remembered Damian simply let himself be held and sobbed.

* * *

Another gangster let out a pitiful wail that cut off with a bang. If this were a cartoon or an old Western, Jason knew he'd be pictured standing above the dead body with a smoking gun. Of course if this were a cartoon or a black and white Western there wouldn't be any blood. Blood was pooling everywhere in the silent warehouse, bodies scattered like broken dolls before him. It didn't make him feel any better. That didn't mean he regretted the deaths he had caused. These men ran a child prostitution ring and had probably deserved worse than they'd gotten, especially considering the terrified looks the little kids had sent him when he'd broken the locks on their cells and directed them towards where he knew one of the few clean cops in Gotham would be patrolling. Still it wasn't the drug dealers he was angry at; it was Bruce.

In the past few months Jason had cut down on his killing. He'd even formed his own team, the Outlaws, and gone as far as to help Nightwing out. He'd been working himself towards what was considered acceptable for the Batclan, for Batman, and then Bruce had gone and gotten himself killed. It was horribly inconsiderate of him. Then again, that was just typical Bruce. The man was always weaseling out of emotional talks but this way was just the icing on top of a very sour cake.

Part of Jason felt bad for the mess he had just made, if for no other reason than for the trouble it would inevitably cause Dick. He and Richard Grayson might not have gotten along when Jason was still Robin but after his death by Joker, the younger man had gotten a good glimpse of just how strained the relationship between Bruce Wayne and his Golden Boy had been. Having Babs, sweet and feisty Barbara Gordon who'd bounded across rooftops with him and dragged Nightwing along behind her, tell him about the knock down, drag out fight Dick and Bruce had gotten into over Jason's death had been a shock. Learning that Bruce had actually lost control of his temper and punched the Golden Boy had been enough to get him to actually seek out Nightwing.

After that first awkward conversation, with Jason snapping and snarling while Dick was already preparing himself for Jason to leave just like everyone else around the older boy, things had become easier between them. Jason had slowly come to realize that Dick's constant drive towards perfection had nothing to do with spiting the Robins the came after him and everything to do with a deeply hidden fear of abandonment. Dick learned that Jason's prickly behavior was a defense mechanism. And slowly the pair of them had become brothers. Now Bruce was dead and while almost everything else felt like it was crumbling around him, the brotherhood remained. With that thought in mind, Jason turned slowly towards Wayne Manor, already considering his next move.

* * *

Roy hadn't wanted to help Dick up the stairs and into Damian Wayne's room. After watching his oldest friend fall just trying to climb the stairs and feeling the heat coming off the younger man's forehead, Roy had been determined to get Dick to the couch in the living room and get him laying down. The argument they'd found had risen to almost epic proportions. Dick had won only by snapping that he'd be going upstairs whether or not Roy helped him. The result had been extremely reluctant and unhappy red head helping the feverish younger man up a flight of stairs and into a dark bedroom only to find a ten year old on the verge of a panic attack.

Damian had been shaking like a leaf in a strong wind and clutching a knife, though the knife had vanished mysteriously after a minute, and when Dick had finally gotten the young boy cuddled close, Damian had started clinging. The boy had sobbed himself to sleep, clutching Dick and even now he refused to let go. Dick was settled against the pillows, fighting to keep his eyes open while Damian's head rested on his chest, hands clutched tight his older brother's worn grey t-shirt. Roy settled in a chair to watch over them both and hoped nothing managed to fall apart while Dick was sleeping.


	6. Part I, Chapter VI

Batman was dead. Those were the words haunting Oliver Queen as he slowly packed his bags, preparing to leave for Gotham. Dinah had agreed to watch over Starling City while he was gone so his absence wouldn't cause too many problems, other than Felicity and Dinah's longstanding feud. Hopefully they'd be able to put their differences aside long enough to allow Oliver to care for Bruce's children. Oliver had always thought he would die before Bruce. Batman always came off as invincible. So much so, in fact, that the members of the Justice League had often forgotten that the man behind the cowl was completely human. The fact that the man was indeed gone continued to feel like a bucket of cold water poured over his head. It would be a long time before the fact that Batman was dead would stop being a shock.

Bag packed, Oliver made his way downstairs, empty house echoing with his footsteps. His mother was long dead and his sister Thea had vanished to parts unknown never to speak to him again after she'd discovered he was Green Arrow. He'd regretted their split but, despite all Felicity's searching, had never been able to track down Thea to set everything right.

Oliver shook those dismal thoughts out of his head and exited the building, dumping his bag into the passenger seat of his car. He was used to people leaving him by now. John Diggle had married and retired, moving away with his life and young child, and Roy left for months at a time when Oliver had ticked him off. People walking in and, inevitably, out of his life was as common as the phases of the mood but the Batclan operated differently. Aside from the argument which had led to the creation of Nightwing and the tragic death of Jason Todd, Batman's family was tightly knit. Sure they argued but they were family and Bruce's death would be hitting them hard. It would be left to Oliver, Roy, and the mostly unshakable Alfred Pennyworth to keep them together now.

* * *

_"You're lying." His voice was harsh but trembling slightly with uncertainty. "Someone will come for me."_

_"Foolish child," came the scornful reply. "You are nothing to them. No one cares for you and no on is coming." Then the figure seemed to soften, a gloved hand lifting his chin so he could look into a single grey eye. "Do not think of them. I promised to come for you and I did. Focus on that."_

_He tried to do as he was ordered, tried to remind himself that he was nothing more than a clone, but couldn't stop the tears that began to drip down his cheeks. The same hand that had lifted his chin now backhanded him sharply, sending him tumbling back. He let out a soft whimper, a trembling hand lifting towards his aching cheek as he turned wide eyes towards the man. "Emotions are a weakness," was the only response he got before the man turned on his heel and stalked out of the room leaving the trembling boy behind. The child managed to hold himself together until the door hissed shut. Then he collapsed to the floor, trembling and sobbing as if his heart were breaking._

Damian lurched awake, gasping for breath. For a moment the room blurred in his vision before he could calm himself. In a chair next to his bed someone startled and Damian turned to see the young man he recognized from a few tabloid articles, and more importantly Batman's superhero log, as Roy Harper. Harper turned green eyes on the younger boy who refused to squirm under the shrewd gaze. After a moment Grayson stirred, mumbling something in his sleep before stilling again. Damian had the strange urge to reach over and press his hand against Grayson's forehead to feel for a fever but he restrained himself.

The boy startled when a calloused hand settled on his forehead, hand snapping up to wrap tight around a wrist. "Easy there." Harper was laughing at him. Damian could hear it in the older boy's voice and he scowled. "As far as I can tell, your fever's gone but you gave Dick whatever you got." Damian's scowl darkened at what he perceived as an accusation. "Oh for god's sake I didn't mean it like that," Harper snapped but Damian ignored him, already sliding out of bed and barely resisting the urge to stomp. He grabbed fresh clothing and headed for the bathroom. He needed to get cleaned up, if for no other reason than to wash away the fearful sweat he was soaked in after his feverish nightmare.

* * *

Jason hesitated on front porch of Wayne Manor, still dressed in his vigilante garb despite the fact that the sun had risen a long time ago. He'd intended to knock as soon as he'd arrived but uncertainty had stopped him. Bruce and Dick might have been willing to welcome him back into the family but the others might not. After all, Jason had been nothing but cruel to Tim since he'd met the boy he'd titled The Replacement. He hadn't met Bruce's only true child by blood yet but he doubted Damian Wayne wanted anything to do with a street kid who'd tried to kill his brothers. The very thought of being turned away froze him. After another moment of deliberation he growled under his breath and stalked away, determined to find some more thugs to take his frustration out on.

* * *

Roy wanted to scream. Damian hadn't been awake for five minutes before Roy had accidentally offended the younger boy. The archer had come to make Dick's job easier but it seemed he was failing. The door slid open again and Alfred stepped inside the room, carefully feeling Dick's forehead. There was worry and slight disapproval for how hard the oldest boy had been working in his gaz before he turned to Roy. "Master Tim and Miss Stephanie have gone out for a bit, presumably to see Miss Barbara," the old butler told the archer. "I will return with the proper medicine for Master Dick and if you could ensure that he would take it and stay in bed once he wakes that would be extremely helpful." Roy nodded and thought he saw a hint of a reassuring smile from Alfred before the man left, shutting the door behind him.

Through the solid barrier of the door, Roy could hear Alfred talking to someone, mentioning a Miss Cassandra. Then the door slid open again and Damian uncertainly stepped into his own room. The archer didn't miss how the boy's eyes fell towards Dick immediately, worry written in every line of his posture. It was nice to think that beneath the mask of an icy adult, there was a frightened and insecure child looking to an older brother for help. Slowly green eyes turned toward Roy. For a moment the uncertainty lingered there. Then Damian seemed to push it away, dropping his pajamas into the hamper and leaving the room without another word.

Roy was left stunned, staring at the spot Damian had previously occupied. For a moment he had been thrown back to the time of the Light's invasion of the Justice League. Roy and the Young Justice team had discovered the Dick had been cloned and the clone had been working for the Light. They'd been furious at first, seeing betrayal from someone they'd trusted, but then the clone had turned wide blue eyes on Roy and the truth had spilled out in a frightened, uncertain rush. In the end, the clone had proved himself, stopping a beam that would have destroyed the entire world. Roy had always assumed the clone had died but maybe, maybe it hadn't. The archer turned thoughtful green eyes towards Dick's sleeping form after a moment and murmured, "You have a lot of questions to answer when you wake up."


	7. Part I, Chapter VII

A half awake Barbara Gordon answered her front door wrapped in what appeared to be half of the blankets from her bed. Standing in front of her was a tear stained Timothy Drake and a worried looking Stephanie Brown. Barbara suddenly found herself wide awake, stomach sinking down to settle around the vicinity of her feet. She ushered them in without a word, shutting and bolting the door behind them. The red head's father had gone into work a couple hours ago and, even though Barbara knew he would drop everything if he knew she was in trouble, she was afraid he wouldn't get there on time.

"Okay," she said, turning to face the two younger figures. "What's going on?"

"Bruce isn't dead," Tim snapped while, talking over him, Stephanie growled, "Timmy here got into a giant fight with Dick." Barbara stared at the pair of them, eyebrows arching up toward her hairline. Both of them had the grace to flush slightly and look down.

"One at a time," the older girl ordered, making her way through the kitchen to start coffee. She was going to need a lot coffee to deal with this mess. If she was being honest, Barbara would have liked a lot more sleep too but Dick shouldn't have to deal with everything. She could handle this for him. "Right," she said as the coffee maker gurgled behind her, turning to shove Stephanie and Tim in chairs. "Tell me everything." The pair hesitated, glancing at one another before turning back to Barbara, eyes wide. The older girl sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead, sinking down in a chair. "All right," she said to the world at large. "Stephanie first."

* * *

Dick woke again around lunch time, bleary eyes scanning the room for Damian. Roy had been forced to pin the younger man down in order to have enough time to explain that Damian had gone downstairs hours ago and was perfectly fine. Alfred had come in then, reassuring Dick that, "Master Damian is downstairs eating lunch. He doesn't need you to work yourself sick again rushing after him." Dick had settled into the bed with a sheepish smile and taken his medicine. Alfred had gotten them both settled with food and then bustled off, probably to make sure Damian was actually eaten and not just moving food around on his plate.

"So," Roy began awkwardly, shifting a little in his seat. "I have a question for you."

"Yeah?"

"It's about the clone." Dick froze, spoon halfway to his mouth. His blue eyes were wide and fixed on the wall across from him. Roy recognized that face. It was the one that screamed _too much information for an outsider, damage control now!_ "Dick," Roy pressed gently. "Is Damian your clone?"

Dick turned wary eyes on Roy then. "I can trust you, right?" That would have hurt had Roy not known how much turmoil Dick was probably in. If Damian was really Dick's de-aged clone then Batman had probably ordered Dick not to tell anyone. And Batman was dead. Dick had to be an emotional mess right now.

"Yes," Roy said solemnly, meeting his friend's eyes. Slowly Dick forced on a weak smile.

"What I'm about to tell you is a secret," the acrobat informed him. "No one else can know about this."

"I swear on my life to keep your secret," Roy promised.

"The beam de-aged my clone," Dick told him. "J'onn suppressed the clone's memories and Bruce took the infant to Talia al'Ghul to be raised without coming under the suspicion of what remains of the Light. Talia was only recently forced to return Damian here."

"So he really is your clone," Roy breathed and Dick nodded. "Does he know?"

"No," came the nervous reply. "But Bruce suspected that J'onn's block might be weak enough by now to dissolve if he spent an extended period of time in my presence."

"So the nightmare he seemed to have had earlier..."

"Might not be a nightmare," Dick finished grimly. "It might have been a memory. The problem is, we won't know until Damian tells one of us." Roy ran a hand through his hair, feeling a headache begin to build. Sitting on the bedside table, his cell chirped and Roy scrambled for it, hoping it meant Oliver was coming to rescue him. Dick smirked weakly at the archer and Roy scowled at the screen of his phone.

"There was a traffic accident on the highway that they're just now clearing up," the red head announced. "Ollie's going to be another couple hours."

"Sucks to be him," Dick tried to sing out cheerfully but at the last minute his expression wavered and fell. Roy settled on the edge of the bed and nudged the younger man's shoulder in a sign of solidarity. A weak, watery smile slid on to the acrobat's face. Roy counted it as a win.

* * *

The day dragged on slowly. Damian paced around the first floor of Wayne Manor until he couldn't do it any longer. Then he made his way upstairs with the intent to take refuge in his room. That was when he remembered Grayson was sleeping in his room. The boy hesitated at the top of the stairs, staring longingly at the direction of his room. Maybe he hadn't personalized it but it was a space that no one entered without his permission. It was his safe haven, a spot where he could show his emotions without being shamed by revealing them in public. He shifted uncomfortably for a moment and was just about to retreat down the stairs to lock himself in Father's study when he remembered Grayson had a room in the mansion. If Grayson could take over Damian's bedroom, then the younger boy would temporarily take possession of Grayson's room.

Hesitantly Damian pushed the door open and found himself in what appeared to be an explosion. A Bludhaven Police sweatshirt was tossed haphazardly over a rolling chair which was three feet away from the desk. The desk itself looked like a notebook had exploded on it, paper covering every surface. There was a variety of old posters tacked to the walls, one of which advertised the Amazing Flying Graysons, and the older boy's bed was unmade. At the moment Damian didn't care. He just needed a safe place to break down. He quietly pulled the door shut behind him and sank down in front of it, wrapping his arms tight around his knees and fighting back sobs.


	8. Part I, Chapter VIII

After a day spent fruitlessly trying to avoid thoughts of his family, Jason found himself on the roof of Wayne Manor in full uniform. Somehow Barbara had gotten Batgirl 3.0 and Robin out on patrol. Jason had watched the two of them for a time, considering approaching them before deciding he was better off looking for Nightwing. That was how, after two hours of fruitless searching, Jason was searching for Dick's window. No one had seen any sign of Nightwing since Wonder Woman had shown up for a short time in Gotham. That meant big brother was either sick, gravely injured, or drowning in misplaced guilt in the Batcave. Jason intended to find the answer.

Dick's window was just as easy to force open as Jason remembered from his days as Robin. The problem was, Dick wasn't the person curled up in the middle of the bed. The form was too small and it had tensed the instant Jason set foot on the floor. Curious, the Red Hood approached the bed only to have the figure move, a foot smacking hard into Jason's chest. The Kevlar suit was great for blocking bullets, at least at a certain range, but it and the padding did very little to block a kick from what was apparently a very tiny ninja. Jason bit out a curse word, stumbled, and scrambled out of range of the blow aimed with deadly precision at the soft skin under his chin.

Dick's room wasn't the best place to do battle with anyone, even without the clutter scattered across the space, but Jason had learned when he was still Robin how to make do. He dodged another punch and caught the kid's leg. The plan had been to dangle the tiny figure by one ankle until the blood rush disoriented him. Instead it only got Jason kicked in the head, helmet, whatever. Jason growled as the kid wriggled free, an almost adorably angry pout on his face. "This isn't your room kid," Jason growled and the pout turned into something that was almost a sneer.

"You are the one breaking into this room," the kid retorted. "At least I have a valid reason to be here."

"Of course." Jason was smirking under his mask. The kid seemed to be under the impression that he was superior to everyone else placed on the planet. It should have irritated the older boy but instead he just wanted to be there when the little ninja's fantasy world came crashing down. The kid sneered again at Jason's derisive tone but didn't bother to respond. "So what's the perfectly valid reason?"

"As if I would tell you Todd?" the kid sneered and a light turned on in Jason's mind.

"So you're Wayne's brat then?" he taunted. "Does that make you think you have a right to break into other people's rooms?"

Damian's scowled darkened, hands clenched into tiny fists and he fumed up at Jason. "Get out," the boy demanded, voice wavering slightly as if he were trying to hold everything at bay but fury. Someone less familiar with the teachings of the League of Shadows might have bought what Damian was trying to sell. Jason knew better.

"Damian," he said, lowering his voice into something dark and demanding that he rarely used anymore, especially not since he'd been hanging around the good guy crowd more and more recently. "Where's Dick?" The kid's face, if possible, went even darker but his hands were trembling.

"Grayson is currently indisposed." Jason really wanted to smack the kid right now, possibly more than he'd ever wanted to smack the Replacement, which was saying something. A little current of fear was racing through his head, singing that first Bruce was gone and now Dick had followed headlong after him by doing something stupid like trying to avenge their mentor's death. His stomach rolled.

" _Damian_ ," he growled. The kid jerked back a little before resettling into a fighting stance, green eyes narrowed. "What's wrong with Dick?"

"Master Dick has caught the flu." Alfred's sudden involvement in the confrontation made Damian startle and Jason swear, both of them spinning towards the open door. The old butler was standing in the doorway and Jason swore there was amusement twinkling in Alfred's eyes. Then what the man said sunk in.

"Dickie bird's sick?"

"Yes Master Jason." Alfred did not seem at all surprised that Jason was in the manor. Then again, this was the man who raised Bruce and patched him up after he'd gone swinging all over Gotham. Not much surprised Alfred. "He has taken over Master Damian's bedroom for the time being," Alfred continued. Jason cast a glance in Damian's direction at that, cataloging the tense muscles and trembling fists. After his little dip into the Lazarus Pit, Jason wasn't exactly a picture of mental health but he knew what separation anxiety looked like in little kids, along with how it was brought on. He hesitated a moment, part of him wanting to be anywhere but here, and then slung an arm around Damian's shoulders, grinning widely when the kid tensed up like an angry kitten.

"So,"he drawled, smirking from beneath his helmet. "Is my bedroom unlocked?"

"Of course Master Jason," Alfred replied with the smallest hint with a smile. "Your room is just as you left it." Jason wrinkled his nose at that, despite the fact the Alfred couldn't see his expression under the helmet.

"Wanna help me clean out my room?" he asked Damian, smirk returning. The kid grumbled and nailed an elbow into a sensitive spot on Jason's side. Alfred just shook his head at them both and left them to it.

* * *

Oliver wanted to scream as he pulled up to the gate at Wayne Manor, dialing the number. He listened as it rang, the irritation from his long day making his muscles tight. There'd been not one, but two accidents on the way to Gotham City and after the second accident drivers had been afraid of even going the speed limit. A five hour drive had turned in eight, and then ten hours but finally he'd arrived. Alfred answered the phone and a moment later the gates were opened, allowing Oliver inside.

Wayne Manor hadn't really changed since Oliver had been in it last. There were a couple new dents and scrapes on the walls from boys running everywhere being energetic ten year olds who happened to know martial arts but otherwise it was virtually untouched by time. "How are things?" Oliver asked Alfred when the old butler opened the door.

"Master Roy is upstairs with Master Dick," Alfred told him. "Masters Jason and Damian are opening up Master Jason's room. As for Master Tim and Miss Stephanie, the pair of them left to see Miss Barbara this morning and have yet to return." Oliver absorbed the information, giving the man a quick nod, and made his way up the stairs. "Second bedroom on the left," Alfred called after Oliver who lifted a hand in acknowledgement.

The bedroom door Alfred had called out was slightly cracked and when Oliver pushed it open Roy startled awake, already rising defensively before he realized who it was. "You're late," the younger archer slurred out and Oliver couldn't help the amused grin that crossed his face.

"Two traffic accidents in one day," was his soft reply as he crossed the room to guide Roy back into the chair. Once his ward and former partner was settled he laid a gentle hand against Richard Grayson's forehead. He could feel the heat from what was left of a fever but other than that, the young man seemed unharmed.

"Damian came down with it the night Bruce, you know..." Roy trailed off awkwardly, unable to say out loud that Bruce was dead. Oliver nodded, settling a gentle hand on Roy's shoulder. "Anyway," the younger archer continued. "Dick caught it about the instant Damian was feeling better."

Oliver wanted to ask how they were all holding up but he could already see the answer in Roy's tired eyes and defeated posture. "Get some rest," he said instead. "We'll talk in the morning." Roy just nodded, eyes already drifting shut.

* * *

Somewhere above the shadows of Gotham, Timothy Drake brooded. Everyone believed he was in denial, that he couldn't accept the fact that Bruce was dead, but that was a lie. Tim's mother was dead and his father was in a coma from which he might never wake, all thanks to the Joker. He understood death just as well as the others did and accepted it. He simply did not believe that Bruce was dead. The facts did not add up.

It was natural that Bruce would go down fighting. They all had known, somewhere buried under the ridiculous belief that Batman was invincible, that Bruce would go down in the suit. Jason had died in one, Dick had been almost killed more times than Tim could count, and both Stephanie and Tim had experienced more than one villain taking a shot at them. It had been unlikely that Bruce would be the one of them that wouldn't die in costume. But that Bruce would be killed on a League mission? Not likely. Sure the League dealt with aliens on a regular basis but, aside from the occasional anomaly, none of the League villains were anywhere near the level of criminal genius and breathtaking insanity that Batman's gallery of rogues did. It was highly improbable that a League villain would be the one to take down Batman.

Then there was the very nature of Batman's destruction. According to Wonder Woman, a beam of light had completely disintegrated Bruce. It simply didn't compute. Particularly nasty children sometimes burned ants with magnifying glasses but the idea that a beam of light could completely erase someone from existence was absurd. The worst part of it was that everyone else believed it. Even the Justice League thought Batman had fallen. The very idiocy of it all made Tim furious.

"Robin?" Stephanie's voice pulled him from his thoughts and he turned toward her. "I think we're done here."

"Yeah," he told her and followed her off the roof. Cass was supposed to arrive tomorrow. Hopefully she would be more sensible than the rest of this family.


	9. Part I, Chapter IX

Damian was unused to physicals sign of affection. He was a child that had been raised by a string of distant, nervous nannies until he was old enough to begin his training. Mother had often been distant and she had been most affectionate during the few occasions he became ill. Damian had no doubt that she cared for him deeply but she rarely allowed any emotions free of her tight control. Grandfather was a completely different matter. The man was cool, calculating, and ancient. He cared very little for Damian past the fact that the boy was Talia's only child. Grandfather had ensured Damian had the best caretakers and teachers available but wanted nothing to do with the boy until the point where Damian would be ready to take his rightful place in the empire.

After moving into Wayne Manor very little had changed. Bruce Wayne was not a man who seemed to believe in signs of affection and Drake did his best to emulate Father in every way. Brown had attempted to hug him once and Damian had almost stabbed her. She had never tried it again, although every once in a while she would reach out to ruffle his hair, even though it always earned her a painful slap. Grayson was different. In the last couple days Damian had been hugged and cuddled almost more than he had been his entire life. When the boy had been ill this had been acceptable but now that he had recovered, the boy knew he was required to behave properly. Todd was ruining all that.

Damian had somehow found himself pinned against the older boy's side as he was tugged down the hall to a room he'd never been allowed to enter. Drake had explained, in clipped sentences just a few days after Damian had arrived at the manor, that ever since Todd had been killed by the Joker no one had been allowed to enter the room. Damian had scoffed at the idea of keeping a shrine for a dead boy, especially one that was no longer dead. Drake had looked as if he had been contemplating punching the younger boy.

The ten year old squirmed when Todd stopped in front of the door but had surprisingly little luck breaking free. Instead he found himself tugged into a bedroom that, compared to Grayson's, was incredibly spartan in look. Everything was tucked away in its proper place, the bed was made without wrinkles, and the closet door was shut. It reminded Damian of home. Todd pulled the bedroom door shut behind them and tugged Damian across the room. The boy found himself perched almost nervously on the edge of the bed while Todd pulled of the helmet, revealing dark hair with white fringe at the front. Damian frowned as he considered the hair, recalling the few pictures he'd seen of Todd. Hadn't the older boy had auburn hair?

Todd was smirking and Damian realized he'd been staring in absolute puzzlement at the older boy's hair. "Apparently the Lazarus Pit didn't like my natural color," Todd commented dryly. Damian clenched his teeth, silently furious at himself. He was supposed to be better than this. "Hey, kid." Todd was suddenly crouched in front of him, just within striking range. Damian locked his muscles in place and tried to hide his uncertainty as he focused on Todd. "Got your head in the game?" Damian nodded, grateful that Todd had not asked if he was okay. Even the young assassin wasn't ready to face the truth of how he really felt. "Good. Now be a good little ninja and go to bed."

"You are not my father," Damian snapped simply for the sake arguing. He had an appearance to keep up after all.

"No," Todd replied with a smirk. "Your father's a man who ran around terrifying villains in a bat costume and was terrible with emotions. Now go to bed short stuff." Damian tried to growl but ended up yawning instead. Todd pressed a palm against his chest and Damian allowed himself to topple backwards, heavy eyelids already drifting closed.

* * *

Barbara watched from the safety of the clock tower as Tim and Stephanie headed back towards their respective bases. Stephanie was swinging towards the clock tower so the girl could change into street clothes and help Barbara home while Tim was only a few minutes away from the safety of the Batcave. The red head knew they were both still in turmoil over Bruce's death but they had done good work tonight. For the time being, Gotham was safe and sound. She could only hope it would last long enough for the Batclan to sort out what their roles would be in a world without Bruce.

The woman was just moving to shut down her computers, Stephanie only a few feet from swinging into the tower, when a window opened in the corner, and Barbara found herself looking at Felicity Smoak. The blonde's face contained a mixture of worry and utter irritation as she met Barbara's green eyes. "Dinah driving you crazy?" Barbara questioned, glad to have an excuse not to think of Bruce and her own problems, even if only for a few minutes.

"Everything has to be done _her way_ ," Felicity groaned. "And Dinah's way is definitely not the way Team Arrow normally works."

"Sounds stressful," the red head told her friend.

"No kidding," the blonde continued. "I'm going to kill Oliver when he gets his butt back here."

"And who's going to protect Starling?"

"Roy can be Green Arrow," Felicity replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. From behind Barbara's chair, Stephanie giggled. Barbara shooed the girl away to change and grinned at Felicity.

"Does that mean you're going to be Arsenal then?"

"As if," Felicity snorted. "Roy's girlfriend can come be his partner once the baby is born and I'll babysit." Both Felicity and Barbara knew about Roy's relationship with Jade Nguyen, also known as Cheshire, but neither one felt it was their place to tell anyone. Roy's secret was safe with them. "But that wasn't why I called. I wanted to see how you were doing."

"I've been better." Felicity's eyes narrowed at the distinct non-answer and Barbara sighed. "I'm trying not to drown here. Robin and Batgirl came flying into my home because they'd gotten into an argument with Nightwing." Felicity knew each of the Batclan's secret identities by now but using their hero names gave Barbara the courage to admit how bad the situation really was. "The only thing we seem to be missing is an Arkham breakout and we'll have a complete disaster."

"You know I'm here for you, right?" Felicity asked.

"Yeah," Barbara replied, managing a weak smile for her friend. "I know." Felicity had been there when the red head had first become Oracle, still upset about her new life confined to a wheelchair. The blonde was a good listener and, in Barbara's experience, gave good advice.

"Hey Babs," Stephanie called from the next room. "We going?"

"Yeah," Barbara called back. "We're going." Then she turned back to Felicity, "Thanks for checking up on me."

"Any time Oracle," came the casual response before Felicity signed off. Barbara shut down her computer with a smile that was small but happy none the less.

* * *

Cassandra Cain's flight arrived at the Gotham International Airport at just after 4:45 in the morning. The dark haired young woman gathered her belongings silently as people chattered to one another and stood in a single fluid motion that drew the attention of many around her. For a moment they could only stare at the woman in their midst, bemused by the fact that someone real could contain that much grace. She stared past them all while they observed her, not moving a muscle, and eventually they turned back to their own conversations.

The plane emptied slowly, Cassandra being one of the last people to exit. She made her way through crowds of people greeting one another, boots clicking on the grey tile, and headed for the baggage claim. As she waited for her bags to arrive she typed out a text message to let Alfred know she had arrived. Once she gathered her bags, the woman made her way to Pick Ups and Departures. She waited outside, bag resting by her side. After five minutes a man approached her, eyes on her purse. He had just reached for it when a slender hand with a grip like steel seized his wrist.

Cassandra turned cool brown eyes on him and she twisted his wrist warningly, waiting until his face paled before releasing him. The man scurried away and the young woman turned her attention back towards the road. An expensive black car pulled up in front of her and a slim smile crossed her face, fading so quickly that if one were not looking for it they would have missed it. An elderly man stepped out of the driver's side and walked around to embrace her. "It is good to see you Miss Cassandra though I wish your return was not under such terrible circumstances." Cassandra Cain hugged Alfred back and for the first time since she had heard the news she found herself fighting back tears.


	10. Part I, Chapter X

Tim slept restlessly, nightmares of Bruce getting ripped apart in hostile dimensions haunting him until sunrise. At just after six in the morning he had finally given up on getting any more rest and wrapped himself in a bathroom before stumbling, bleary eyed down the stairs. It took him a moment to register what was going on when he reached the kitchen. Alfred was bustling about, as was his usual routine, but there was a dark haired woman drinking from a steaming cup. She was seated with perfect poise on a bar stool on one side of the counter and she turned deep brown eyes toward him when he entered the room. "...Cass?" he questioned after a moment.

He approached her cautiously, as if he were reaching out toward a ghost. She smiled and ruffled his hair. Her own hair no longer hung past her shoulders but had been cut neatly so the ends tickled her chin. "Tim," she replied gently, as if reassuring him that she had really arrived. Unable to help himself, Tim lunged forward and hugged her tightly. Cassandra delicately wrapped her arms around him as if she were holding something fragile and precious.

For a moment Tim was simply content to bask in the comfort of being held. After all the arguments of the past couple days it was nice to know that someone still cared for him. At last he leaned back a little, loosening his hold on Cass. His older sister's arms settled back at her sides but she didn't move away from him, studying him like a curious bird. "Cass can I talk to you?" he asked her nervously, uncertain whether she would reject his theory like the others had. In response Cass abandoned her cup of tea and took him by the arm, gently leading him away towards the living room where they could talk for the time being without being overheard.

* * *

Roy's neck ached. The archer groaned and stretched uncomfortably in the chair he'd been sleeping in. That was rising on his list of things he never wanted to do again unless he had no other choice. Roy turned towards the bed only to see it empty. Pure panic overwhelmed Roy and he was scrambling for the door before the fact that Dick was missing had even fully sunk in. He was in such a panic that he almost collided with Alfred as he burst out of Damian's room and into the hall. The old butler skillfully dodged Roy who stumbled to a halt and sputtered out an apology. The butler only observed him with mostly hidden amusement and said, "If you are searching for Master Dick then I can assure you that he is much better and went to shower fifteen minutes ago."

"Thank you Alfred," Roy managed to get out and butler nodded before continuing down the hall, pausing once to knock on the door Roy knew for a fact was Jason's. The butler vanished around a corner, probably to fetch Oliver, and Roy shook his head in bemusement before heading downstairs. The last thing he wanted to do was kill brain cells trying to wrap his head around the strange dynamics of the Batclan. He'd allow Dick or Jason to explain what he needed to know and try not to worry about the rest.

* * *

Jason groaned when someone pounded on his door. "Five more minutes Kory," he slurred out, burying his head deeper into the pillow. Distantly he felt the bed move as someone else burrowed deeper under the blankets. That was enough to wake him fully, sending him catapulting out of bed. He found himself standing at the edge of the bed staring at Damian. The boy was curled up in a tiny ball underneath the covers, on tiny hand clutching on to the blanket that was practically pulled over his head. He vaguely remembered the kid falling asleep on his bed and being too tired to bother heading back to Dick's room. From the arrangement of the blankets it looked like the boy had cuddled up next to Jason some time after they'd both fallen asleep.

Jason considered shaking the ten year old to wake him up and then thought the better of it. He might not have kept a knife under his pillow but the kid had already proved he was dangerous enough without a weapon. The older boy settled for throwing a pillow at what he could see of Damian's head. The boy shot upright, wide eyes fixing directly on where Jason stood. Those eyes narrowed when they fell on the older boy and barely a minute later Jason was batting away the pillow that had come soaring across the room at his head. "Not bad kid," he said with a smirk. Damian growled at him and tried to burrow back under the covers. The kid had definitely been a cat in a past life.

In response to Damian's attempt to go back to sleep, Jason grabbed the blankets and yanked them off the bed. Damian launched himself off the bed and at the older boy with surprising speed. The two banged into the door which swung open and tumbled into the hallway. Jason caught a glimpse of Dick watching them with a bemused look on his tired face. Then he found himself busy trying to keep Damian from taking advantage of pressure points. The two tussled for a couple minutes before Jason managed to get the situation under control, managing to pin Damian under one arm. "Hey Dickie bird," he said as cheerfully as he could manage, pulling a squirming and obviously unhappy Damian up and keeping the kid pinned at his side.

"J-Jason?" Dick stammered, looking as if he'd seen a ghost. Jason smirked. "How-When-?" Dick finally shrugged off his shock and lunged forward, wrapped his arms around the wayward bird. Jason grudgingly allowed it, mostly because he'd have to release Damian if he wanted to do anything about it. Dick seemed to sense Jason's irritation and backed off. He looked worn thin but no longer ill. "Cass is home. She's downstairs with Roy, Oliver, Tim, and Alfred," Dick told Jason. _I'll understand if you leave_ , his eyes said. Part of Jason wanted to bristle with irritation but he knew Dick's wariness wasn't unwarranted. Jason had determinedly avoided everyone in the family aside from his big brother after the showdown with Bruce and the Joker.

"I'm only leaving if you're coming down like that," Jason said after a moment of deliberating about the best way to respond to that. After the times they'd worked together as Nightwing and Red Hood had given Jason insight into his older brother's habit and insecurities, enough insight that he knew Dick had abandonment issues and wasn't about to blindly trust that Jason was going to stick around.

Dick glanced down, flushing slightly when he realized he was wearing boxers and had a towel in hand. "I'll, uh, I'll get some clothes on and meet you down there," he offered. Both older boys startled a little when Damian snickered. Both turned their gaze towards the young boy who'd gotten control of his emotions and now stared impassively back at them. After a moment Dick shook his head and headed for his own bedroom.

"Come on kid," Jason said, locking his worry for his older brother away in a box where it belonged. "Let's go down and catch up with the other kiddies." Damian snarled at that, squirming in his hold, but Jason ignored the irritation and tugged the boy down the stairs. Time to surprise his siblings.


	11. Part I, Chapter XI

It was too early in the morning to think properly. Roy Harper cradled the cup of coffee Alfred had handed him between his hands and breathed in the steam, rolling his eyes when Oliver took a gulp of his despite the temperature. Perched on the two bar stools on one side of the counter were Cass and Tim, the pair sitting in contented silence. They'd come in a few minutes earlier, Alfred replacing Cass's cup of cold tea with a fresh one that the young woman held delicately between two pale palms. Tim had a glass of orange juice that he was sipping from almost absently, simply staring out the window behind Roy's head. The young archer was simply glad the shouting of the previous day was gone.

Heavy footsteps approached and Roy turned, anticipating Dick's arrival, only to freeze. Jason Todd was dragging a grumbling Damian down the stairs. Damian was squirming and jabbing his elbow into Jason's ribcage to no avail. The elusive member of the Wayne family smirked at Roy, who was sure he was sporting a completely bemused look on his face, and shoved Damian towards Cass and Tim. The kid huffed, scowled at Jason, and then stalked into the kitchen. Alfred wordlessly handed the boy a steaming cup of tea and Damian headed for the dining room, only pausing to glance curiously at Cass.

"You came home." Roy couldn't keep the complete disbelief out of his voice.

"I came to check on big brother," Jason corrected, smirk widening. "And found a miniature ninja in his bedroom."

"I am surprised anyone slept through the confrontation between Master Jason and Master Damian," Alfred added, mild disapproval in his tone. Jason's smirk never faded and they could all hear Damian make a disapproving noise from the next room. At the same time, Cass abandoned her tea and stepped around the counter to place a slender hand on Jason's shoulder. Roy fully expected the anti-hero to shrug his sister's hand off but instead Jason remained perfectly still. After a long moment, Cass grinned at him and reached up to tug on his white fringe before returning to her tea.

"Hello to you too," Jason said with a dry smile. Tim snorted and the older boy flipped the younger one off before searching for a coffee cup.

"Second cabinet to your left Jay," Dick's voice called from the staircase. "And you really shouldn't be making rude gestures around Alfred. He sees all." Jason didn't flush but Roy was suddenly very certain that it was a near thing.

"Indeed I do Master Dick," Alfred agreed. "Now if you would not mind exiting my kitchen, breakfast will be finished shortly." Dick grinned widely, the smile not quite meeting his eyes, and Roy slipped around Jason to nudge Dick with his shoulder. Dick gave his friend a worn smile and led the way into the dining room where Damian was already settled. Green eyes observed them for a moment before the boy decided they were harmless and went back to his tea.

Breakfast was, for the most part, a silent affair. The only real conversation was when Jason snapped, "Can somebody explain to me why there are no knives at the table?" Tim and Stephanie Brown, who had joined them moments after they'd begun eating, both turned to look pointedly at Damian.

"I refuse to apologize for that," was the small boy's only reply to which Stephanie snorted, Tim pressed a hand against his forehead, and Jason rolled his eyes muttering about small ninjas. Once they'd finished eating Alfred efficiently cleaned the table, leaving them all sitting in awkward silence. Dick had his head down, staring at the table as if he wished he could become it. Alfred paused near the Wayne heir, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I know you probably do not wish to do this but Bruce left a will on the computer downstairs in case something like this happened," the old butler informed Dick. The young man nodded, standing and glancing uncertainly around his family before heading for the study. Jason and Roy exchanged worried glances and after a moment Jason followed his older brother out of the room.

* * *

Seeing the Batcave for the first time since _that night_ hurt. Dick descended into the dimly lit cave, flipping the lights on to the discomfort of the bats squeaking on the ceiling. The computer came to life, spreading a blue glow across Dick's face and the Wayne heir hesitantly tapped the correct keys to log on to the system. Quite honestly, the acrobat wasn't certain he wanted to know what Bruce had to say. He'd loved the man like a father but Bruce had been terrible with expressing his emotions even at the best of times. This will could be a train wreck.

Dick nervously searched for the correct file and opened it. There were four video clips inside the folder, each one neatly labeled. _Richard Grayson, Cassandra Cain, Timothy Drake, Damian al'Ghul Wayne_. Nothing for Jason. It was surprisingly painful to see that Bruce had completely abandoned Jason, especially after all the work Dick had done to slowly guide the pair towards reconciliation. With a heavy heart he clicked on the video link with his name on it and found himself face to face with Bruce. The man was dressed in the Batman costume with the cowl down so Dick could see his face. What worried the acrobat the most was the fact that Bruce's face was completely blank.

"Dick, if you are watching this then someone has finally gotten the best of me and I am dead," Bruce said, piercing gaze fixed directly on his oldest son. "I have left behind messages for each of my children aside from Jason, who would never consent to listen to anything I have to say regardless of whether or not I am gone." For a moment a melancholy smile crossed Bruce's face before the impassiveness returned. "I know I have no right to ask anything of you at such a time as this but I must. Gotham needs the security of Batman to remain stable and only you are capable of taking up the mantle. Jason is too unpredictable, Tim not trained enough, and despite his ability Damian is far too young. The fate of Gotham, as well as the safety of your siblings, rests on your shoulders my son. I wish you only the best." The recording stopped and Dick heard a strange rushing sound in his ears. He was trembling as if he'd been standing outside in Gotham during a fierce blizzard.

"That _bastard_." Jason's snarl barely reached Dick through the tornado whirling about in his brain. "That absolute bastard. He had no right. _No right!_ "

"It's okay," Dick replied hollowly, feeling as if the ground had dropped out from underneath him. "He's right. Gotham needs Batman and there's no other choice. It has to be me."

"No." Jason's voice was uncompromising as he tugged Dick around to look at him. And when had Jason ended up taller than his older brother? "I'll do it. I'll take the cowl."

"Jason-," Dick began but the younger man waved him off.

"No protests. I'm perfectly capable of scaring people half to death without shooting them. I'll ditch the guns and become Batman, you'll stick around as Nightwing, and everything will be fine. Got it?"

"Got it." Dick managed a watery smile in response, fighting to hold it all together, and for the first time since the younger boy had been Robin, Jason was actually the one who initiated the hug.

* * *

Jason and Dick emerged from the cave looking worn thin. They waved their younger siblings back towards the study so they could enter one by one and hear what Bruce had to say before sinking down in the living room, neither one speaking. Alfred Pennyworth was worried. He knew every single member of the Wayne family perhaps better than anyone alive so he could tell that whatever Bruce had recorded had greatly upset Dick. The Wayne heir was trembling slightly and Jason's eyes were narrowed in silent fury. Oliver Queen and Roy Harper settled cautiously in empty chairs as Cassandra silently entered the room, settling on the floor in front of Jason and rest her head against his knees. Her brother ran gentle fingers through her hair as Cass stared blankly at the wall.

"Master Bruce what have you done," the old butler whispered mournfully. After the tragic deaths of Martha and Thomas Wayne, Alfred had practically raised a young Bruce Wayne. He was, for the most part, proud of the man Bruce had been but he also knew the man struggled with emotions. Too often he said the wrong thing and people Bruce cared about where hurt. This time, if Bruce had said the wrong thing the memories and love his children held for him could be tainted forever.

Tim returned with Stephanie by his side, the blonde's face flushed with indignation. Tim was silently and stony but Alfred could tell that whatever Bruce had told him had hurt. The young man stood in the door way for a moment, clutching Stephanie's hand. Dick turned tired blue eyes towards Tim. "You can't do it," Tim said after a moment. "It'll eat you alive."

"Can't do what?" Roy asked. Alfred saw the exact moment that the archer realized exactly what Tim was talking about. The old butler knew Dick and Roy had discussed their feelings on taking up their mentors' mantles a long time ago. He also knew that Dick hadn't wanted to become Batman but would if the situation required him too. That worried Alfred. He didn't want Dick to become Bruce, to sacrifice himself, for a city that would gladly swallow him whole.

"He's not going to," Jason cut in as Oliver Queen glanced between the three Batclan members in confusion. "I'm going to." Tim considered that silently for a moment and then nodded once in acceptance. Then he turned to Cass, the pair of them having a silent conversation.

"I'm leaving," he said at last. "Cass, uh, Cass agrees that there is a possibility Bruce may still be alive. When she returns to Hong Kong I'm going with her to investigate."

"Okay." Dick gave Tim a pained smile. "Just stay safe."

"I will." Tim left the room to back and Stephanie lurked awkwardly in the doorway until Damian almost crashed into her. The boy was shaking green eyes wide with barely contained emotions, and when Stephanie pulled him close he didn't protest. Alfred looked at the shattered remains of the Wayne family and felt nothing but pain.

**End Part One**


	12. Part II, Chapter XII

Jason stared at the cowl as if he suspected it would eat him alive. It had been a week since Bruce's children had seen his recordings. A week since, after clinging tightly to Stephanie for an hour after hearing what Bruce had to say, Damian had retreated into his room and refused to come out. Alfred was the only one who'd seen the boy since that fateful day which had both Dick and Jason worried. Whatever Bruce had told the boy had clearly shaken him but Damian had been clever enough to encrypt the file and Dick was having difficulty cracking the encryption. It had also been close to a week since Jason had taken up the cowl. He had hoped that it would begin to feel more natural to be dressed as Batman as the nights patrolling with Nightwing dragged on but instead he constantly felt like a child that had stolen his father's clothing.

It didn't help that the crooks had noted the absence of Robin. Since Tim was in Hong Kong researching rather than patrolling Robin had become conspicuous by the lack of news coverage on him. Gotham criminals were beginning to take notice. Just the night before Poison Ivy had commented on the lack of the Boy Wonder and Selina Kyle's eyes had narrowed behind her goggles before she'd vanished without a word when she'd realized it was only Batman and Nightwing together. Sooner or later the rumor would start to spread that another Robin had been killed. Villains would grow bold and chaos would take over Gotham. The only good thing about this situation was that the Joker was safely locked away in Belle Reve.

"You okay Jaybird?" Dick's voice shook the new Batman out of his thoughts and the younger man turned to face his brother.

"Still no luck with the kid?"Jason asked, blatantly dodging the question. Dick shook his head, looking disheartened.

"He won't even talk to me through the door aside from insisting I go away," the acrobat replied, removing the Nightwing costume from its proper case.

"We really need to decrypt that file," Jason muttered and Dick nodded in agreement before vanishing to change. The pair of them slipped into the Batmobile fully costumed a moment later and they were zooming out into the Gotham night, both silently praying that this wasn't the night everything fell apart.

* * *

Barbara Gordon studied the silent streets of Gotham, green eyes narrowed behind her glasses. Something felt off. Maybe it was the fact that Gotham was rarely this quiet, maybe it was the nervous way the dock workers were glancing nervously around as if they expected to get busted for possession of illegal substances at any moment, or maybe it was the worry Nightwing and Batman seemed to exude even through comms and cameras. Regardless of the reason, the red head just knew something was going to go terribly wrong.

"Everything still quiet?" Stephanie Brown's voice broke the silence and made Barbara jump. "Sorry," the blonde apologized sheepishly and the red head smiled weakly at her student.

"Everything's still quiet," Barbara confirmed. "Should I tell the boys you're coming out for the night."

"Do you want me out?" Barbara arched an eyebrow at Stephanie and the blonde stared back. Normally the younger girl would have been jumping at the chance to patrol but something seemed to be bothering her. "I just...You've lost enough already," Stephanie sputtered. "I don't want to go out if you're going to feel guilty for anything that might happen to me."

"I'll be fine," Barbara informed her student, touched by Stephanie's concern. "So why don't you suit up and get out there." The blonde grinned at her and scurried out, leaving the red head to activate her comm system. "Keep your eyes peeled for Batgirl," she informed Batman and Nightwing. "I'm sending her out."

"Roger that Oracle," Nightwing chirped with false cheer while the Batman on screen simply lifted his hand in acknowledgement. Barbara felt another pang of worry but she did her best to ignore it as she began scanning the screens for any sign of trouble. Stephanie called a good-bye as she darted out the window and the red head managed a real grin only to startle again as a new window opened on her screen. The signal was coming from the Batcave.

"Alfred what is it?" she asked after a quick glance at the dark screen, turning back towards her searching. "Is something wrong?" No reply. Barbara turned towards the screen and her eyes widened when she saw who was looking at her. "Damian?" she asked cautiously, startled by the tear stains she saw on his cheeks. "Is everything okay?"

"I, uh, I need to talk to someone," the boy said, sniffing slightly as if trying to hold back tears. Barbara wanted to question why Damian had come to her instead of one of his brothers but she knew that would probably scare off boy.

"Okay," she said, giving him his full attention. "I'm here." That earned her a weak smile. Barbara Gordon had only met Damian Wayne once and during the meeting the boy had been stuffy and aloof. Stephanie and Tim had both informed her that Damian normally behaved that way so to see the boy this shaken was worrying. When it became clear that the boy needed a little prodded she asked, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Father's recording," came the downcast reply.

_Oh Bruce_ , Barbara thought. _What did you say to him?_ "What about it?" she asked gently. It was then that Damian focused watery green eyes directly on Barbara's own eyes.

"What do you do when you find out your whole life is a lie?"

"What do you mean?" Barbara was shocked, not only by the question but also by the sheer amount of despair in the boy's voice.

"I'm not Damian Wayne," the ten year old told her. "I'm Richard Grayson's clone."


	13. Part II, XIII

Harleen Quinzel had graduated at the top of her class. Career paths had been dropped before her on a golden road and out of all the offers she had chosen to become a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. She had genuinely believed she would be able to help the crazies that ran rampant throughout the city. Then she met the Joker. Nobody knew his real name or if he had truly originated from Gotham. He had been handed over to the young psychiatrist in the hope that she would be able to make some headway when others could not. She had felt herself up to the task. She had thought wrong.

After just three sessions with her new patient, everything the woman had ever believed in had been turned on its head. The Joker had opened Harley's eyes to a whole new world, a new truth. After a week of research and soul searching she had embraced the new truth. After two she had broken him out of Arkham. It had been laughably easy. Arkham Asylum was, on most days, a glorified revolving door. Knowing this, it had been simple for to analyze other successful escape plans and create one of her own. Thus, three weeks after her first meeting with him, Harley Quinn broke the Joker out of Arkham.

This time around they had locked her sweetheart away in Belle Reve Penitentiary run by the iron fisted Amanda Waller. Few ever escaped Belle Reve but Harley was clever. She had a plan. Together with her close female friend, Dr. Pamela Isley, they were planning to break the infamous villains, Scarecrow and Bane, out of Arkham. With all eyes focused on the chaos in Gotham, Isley and Quinn would be free to break into Belle Reve and free the Joker for some good old fashioned chaos. A wide smile split the woman's face as she glanced over at red headed Poison Ivy. "Ready?" she questioned.

"Ready."

* * *

" _Damian_ ," Barbara breathed out softly, eyes wide and shocked. The young boy glanced down to the floor and the red head wanted desperately to cuddle him close until he stopped looking so much like a kicked puppy. The boy sniffed a little and Barbara felt her eyes well with tears. "Damian are you okay?"

"Yes," the boy replied but despite his stiff shoulders, the tear stains on his cheeks and his wavering tone told a different story.

"No you're not," the red head replied gently and Damian let out a little sob. "Damian, is this why you haven't been talking to your brothers?" The boy nodded, trembling a little, and Barbara could practically see the insecurity written in every line of his frame. The commissioner's daughter had only met the boy once, at one of Wayne's charity events, and he had been haughty and aloof then. Tim and Stephanie had reassured her that his behavior had been perfectly normal which meant that the boy had been truly shaken to act this much out of character. "Damian your brothers will still love you," she insisted but the boy was already shaking his head.

"Will they?" the by challenged, voice shaking. "I'm not even a real person. I'm just a cheap copy."

"That is a lie," Barbara protested. "Just because you're a clone doesn't mean you aren't a real person."

"I just- I don't-" The boy turned uncertain green eyes on the hacker and Barbara felt another wave of sympathy wash over her. That was when an alarm began screaming. Damian flinched at the sudden noise and the red head twisted around automatically to greet the new threat. An Arkham breakout. Barbara so hated being right. "Oracle?" Damian's voice had stabilized now that the boy was dealing with something outside his own dilemma. "Do you see this?"

"Yeah, I see it," the red head replied, already typing rapidly. A sudden thought made her hesitate before she turned back to Damian. "I hate to ask this but can you see if you can discover who is breaking out while I contact Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl."

"Of course," came the lazy reply. If she hadn't just seen him crying, Barbara wouldn't have ever known anything was wrong. That very thought made her wonder exactly how many times Damian had hid how he felt from everyone around him, including Stephanie and Tim.

Shaking her head, Barbara turned her attention towards Jason, Dick, and Stephanie. "We have an Arkham breakout," she informed them. "I'm not sure yet who was involved but it's bad. There's an entire wall down."

"Scarecrow is out," Damian cut in suddenly. "And they put him right next to Bane. The adjoining wall has probably been damaged by the explosion which means Bane will be out at any moment."

"Anyone else?" Barbara questioned him, heart pounding.

Her fingers were trembling slightly and she only realized she hadn't muted herself on the other channel when Jason asked, "What?"

"I think the Riddler may have broken free in the chaos but it is difficult to tell," came Damian's reply. "The camera angles are terrible."

"Tell me about it," the red head agreed before turning back towards the waiting vigilantes. "Scarecrow is definitely out and Bane is probably going to be. There's a possibility the Riddler is roaming free as well but it's hard to tell."

"We've got it," Dick said, voice grim. "Thanks Oracle."

"Just doing my job," Barbara replied grimly before turning her mind towards finding out where Scarecrow had gone. That was when she heard something that was probably a curse in Arabic. "Damian?" she questioned.

"Bane is out and he brought half a dozen others with him," came the reply. "They are walking directly into a trap."

"Of course," Barbara growled, frustrated and worried. "Damian I need you to get Roy and Oliver. Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl are going to need help."

"No," came the swift reply. "They're _my_ brothers. I am going out."

"Damian," the red head called. "Damian, _please_!" But it was already too late. The ten year old had shut down the connection, leaving Barbara to curse and scramble to re-connect. Her first sight of the Batcave confirmed her suspicions. Damian was gone. "Batman, we have a problem," she snapped over the open channel. "Damian's gone out."

"You mean he's out of his room?" Stephanie cut in.

"Not the point Batgirl," Nightwing and Batman snapped in unison, silencing her.

"Bane brought a few others out with him," Barbara informed them. "And instead of getting Green Arrow and Arsenal like I asked, he decided to come out himself." The stream of cuss words streaming through the link was enough to make Barbara wince as she searched the cameras across Gotham for any sign of the boy. She doubted she would find anything, Damian had been trained by the League for years, but she had to try.

"Hey Oracle," Dick spoke up, interrupting her searching. "Do you think you could call Alfred and have him send Arsenal and Green Arrow out?"

"I'll try," the red head replied. "Now stop interrupting me while I search for our missing ninja."

"Yes ma'am," came the weak tease and a thin smile crossed Barbara's face before she settled down to work.


	14. Part II, Chapter XIV

"What was he thinking?" Jason snarled as he lunged into the driver's seat of the Batmobile.

"He's been trained by the League," Stephanie pointed out over the comm, already swinging from rooftop to rooftop towards Arkham. "He can handle himself."

"He's _ten_ ," Jason shot back. "I don't care if he's the greatest fighter in the known universe. Bane will snap him in half."

"Aww, I didn't know you cared," Stephanie cooed and Jason snarled at her as Dick scrambled into the passenger seat of the vehicle. No sooner had the oldest slammed the door shut then Jason peeled out, the Batmobile roaring towards Arkham.

"Oracle, how did Damian know about the breakout?" Dick questioned, sliding into the door of the vehicle as Jason flew around a tight turn.

"He'd contacted me," came Barbara's swift reply. "He was upset about something B said to him in the recording and wanted to talk to me about it." Dick glanced at Jason who spared a moment to return his gaze from beneath the cowl.

"So he's using the breakout as a distraction from what's bothering him," Dick muttered grimly and Jason nodded.

"Any luck contacting Agent A?" the new Batman questioned.

"Contact was successful," Oracle replied smoothly. "Arsenal and Green Arrow are suiting up now. They'll join you as soon as they can."

"Got it," Jason and Dick replied in synch as the Batmobile screeched to a stop in front of the ruins of one of Arkham Asylum's walls. The damage done was glaringly obvious, one wall completely gone and a huge hole on the inside wall that would adjoin Jonathan Crane's cell to Bane's. Further explosions had also damaged Arkham's outside wall, leaving a few guards dead in the chaos. Both young vigilantes scanned their surroundings from the safety of the Batmobile, hoping to catch a glimpse of their youngest brother or their enemies. No such luck. "Batgirl, what's your status?" Jason demanded, slipped into Batman's gruff voice easily after a week of patrolling under the guise of the Bat.

"I'm a block away," Stephanie replied, sounding breathless over the comm.

"Join us on the ground when you get here," Jason said smoothly. "Nightwing and I are going in."

"Copy that," came the response as the two scrambled out of the Batmobile, eyes scanning the darkness warily. "Heads up," Stephanie called. "I'm coming in." It wasn't until she swung down towards the ground that the men lurking in the shadows stepped into view.

"Great timing," Nightwing teased even as he sent the first man sprawling.

"It's one of my charms," Stephanie shot back, launching a firm kick in the middle of a man's chest. "Where did this yahoos come from?"

"They're vultures," Nightwing replied with a shrug, flipping over a man's shoulder with a move that sent his attacker sprawling to the ground. "They've already heard about the explosion and have come to see what chaos they can cause."

"Only in Gotham," Stephanie grumbled as they dispatched the last of the goons.

"Guys, I've found our missing ninja child," Barbara announced over the open communication channel. "But he's found Bane." The silence over the channel was deafening.

* * *

Damian had not meant to find Bane. His intention had been to arrive at Arkham and assist his brothers in any way possible. The fight would then distract him from what he had discovered about himself and maybe Damian could pretend his world hadn't shaken off its axis. Now he stood before the massive man, knife in hand. "Aren't you a little lost _chico_?" Bane mocked. "Wandering the streets alone at night in Gotham is dangerous."

"For you," Damian replied, knife flying out of his hand with what should have been deadly accuracy. He had been trained by the League to kill from the time he was old enough to walk and he knew Bane's weakness. The tube connected to the back of the man's head fed him Venom which made him stronger than an average man.

Bane sent the knife spinning aside, ignoring the thin cut it caused. "Not bad _chico_ ," Bane called cheerfully. "Not bad at all." Then he smiled a nasty little smile. "My turn." Suddenly Damian was less concerned with how he was going to beat Bane and more concerned with dodging.

* * *

Jade Nguyen placed a gentle hand on the slowly swelling bump of her stomach, her gaze fixed on the stars twinkling above her. It had been a long time since she'd been outside at night simply to stargaze. The last time had been with Roy. He'd proposed and she laughed at him, overwhelmed by the knowledge that she shouldn't have even still been alive by this point. Assassins didn't have long lifespans and people in Jade's family had either gotten caught or killed over the years. Her mother had gotten out because she'd been put in a wheelchair and Artemis had joined a band of heroes but they were the exceptions. The Nguyen and Crock families were cursed with short lives. In the end though, lying on a rooftop staring at the stars, she'd forgotten that for a little bit and said yes to Roy.

The thought made her smile, an ironic twist of the lips on her pretty face. An assassin marrying a former hero. Her younger self would have laughed until she'd been sick. Of course, younger Jade had run away from home and left Artemis to the tender mercies of Lawrence Crock. Her new self was more into building things than running away from them. The baby kicked a little underneath her hand and the smile turned into something warm and fond. "You're my little miracle, you know that?" she told the baby who kicked again in response. The child was strong, just like her father.

Jade had yet to discover the infant's gender but she was certain that the child was a girl. She had all kinds of pet names for a child that wasn't even born and Artemis had called her ridiculously mushy the last time the pair had spoken. Jade had snorted at that but it was true. The darkness that made her such a good assassin was fading away to leave behind emotions she'd once considered weak. The baby kicked once more, as if scolding her mother for missing that days when death was just another tool of the trade, and Jade shook her head to clear it. "It's about time to call your daddy, don't you think?" she asked. The baby kicked once more. Jade took it as agreement.

* * *

It had been close to six months since Roy and the other members of the Outlaws had patrolled in Gotham. Jason went through hot and cold fazes about the city, sometimes eager to be there and sometimes dying to be anywhere but his birth city. That meant Roy knew the layout of Bludhaven like he knew the back of his hand but the layout of Gotham was fuzzy and, at times, completely faded out. Relying on Oliver to cover his back, Roy lifted the Bluetooth piece to his ear and said, "Can you hear me Oracle?"

"Loud and clear," came the smooth response. Barbara Gordon's normally bright voice sounded strained even through all her filters. "Status is this; Nightwing and Batgirl are at Arkham dealing with the chaos there. Batman has gone after Damian and Bane."

"In that order?" Roy questioned.

"No," was Barbara's grim reply. "Damian ran into Bane. They're fighting now. I'm going to direct the pair of you to join up with Batman there."

"Understood," Roy told her, fingers tapping worriedly against his hip. This was not going to be good.


	15. Part II, Chapter XV

Damian's back hit a wall hard, cement crumbling a little under the force of the strike. The boy gasped in pain and crumbled to the ground, an arm rising up to wrap around his ribs. Bane was laughing, dark eyes gleaming with delight. Anger roared underneath the boy's skin like a raging fire. He bared his teeth like a wild animal and rose, still maintaining that fluid grace his teachers had praised him for, and reached for another blade. He removed the last one from where it was strapped on the inside of his leg, pulling it from beneath his pants, and settled it smoothly in hand, warily watching the massive man. He had vastly underestimated his opponent, as he was wont to do, and was now paying for his mistakes in the form of many bruises and broken bones. Each breath he pulled in hurt.

"You," the massive man said approvingly. "You are a good challenge _chico_."

"As are you," Damian replied smoothly, fighting to keep any sign of pain out of his voice. "It will be a pity to kill you." Bane laughed again, the sound grating on the boy's ears, and lunged for him. Damian dove out of the way and rolled smoothly to his feet, slicing out with the knife to add another little cut to Bane's growing collection. When it had become obvious that skill alone would not defeat the man before him, Damian had hoped that enough minor wounds would at least slow him down. Perhaps that plan was working but Damian's mind was too blurred by exhaustion and anger to clearly be able to ascertain its affects.

The boy twisted away from another powerful blow, hearing the wind whistle by his ear, and he lunged forward, diving underneath the follow up blow. The third one clipped his shoulder, spinning him aside, and Damian allowed his body to drop towards the ground, Bane's massive hand whistling over his head. It took him a little too long to regain his feet and Bane settled a powerful kick in the middle of the boy's chest. Damian went flying. He rolled across the ground, ripping skin off his now unprotected arms. He wanted to lay there, to just give up, but the teachers Talia al'Ghul had assigned had not trained a quitter. Damian would fight to the end. He would either be victorious or die trying. Knife in hand, he rose once more to face his fate.

* * *

Jason lunged out of the Batmobile with a speed that would have turned West green with envy, leaving Dick to scramble after him. The younger man didn't look back. Big brother could take care of himself. The cape snapped out behind him, Jason rounded the corner in time to see Bane kick Damian, the small boy rolling across the ground before climbing laboriously to his feet. The blade in the boy's hand gleamed and Jason had no doubt that it was razor sharp. The League were not known for carrying around faulty or dull equipment.

Bane loomed over the much smaller figure and Jason launched a Batarang across the empty space, the razor sharp piece of metal sending the man jerking back. "Batman." Bane's voice was low and pleased, as if he'd just been given the gift he wanted for Christmas.

"Bane," Jason growled back, ridiculously pleased that the massive man's attention was no longer on Damian's injured form.

Bane's eyes fell to a position near Jason's left shoulder and the man added, "I see you've brought company."

"I was in the neighborhood," Nightwing replied and Jason could hear the smirk in his older brother's voice. "Thought I'd swing by and visit some old friends."

"So nice of you _chico_ ," came the unbothered reply. Bane and Dick had clashed back when big brother was still running around as Robin and training Jason to be his successor. The two had an established history of violence and banter which meant Bane knew most, if not all, of Nightwing's moves. He knew many of Jason's as well.

"You check on our little ninja," the former anti-hero muttered to his brother. "I'll deal with Bane."

"Got it," Nightwing replied. They moved together, Nightwing smoothly moving Damian out of range while Jason rammed a powerful blow into Bane's shoulder. The man chuckled and the reply punch made Jason stumble back a step. He dodged the next blow, pulling up every bit of martial arts knowledge Bruce and the League had imparted to him. The next couple minutes contained a flurry of blows that did relatively little to the massive man. Under the power of Venom, Bane was pure deadly muscle and Jason was fairly certain the man could give Superman a run for his money like this. The best way to defeat the villain was to cut him off from his supply of Venom but that was easier said than done. Bane knew how to defend his stash.

Fortunately Bane wasn't expecting arrows. The deadly projectile sliced through the tube attached to the back of Bane's head and Jason's next blow sent him reeling. From that point it was a simple matter to knock out Bane and hang him from a fire escape. "Bane's down," Jason informed Barbara over the comms. "Call Gordon in for pickup."

"Will do," came the reply. "Everyone safe and sound?" Jason glanced over at Damian who was none too stable on his feet and leaning heavily against Nightwing before replying.

"We're all in one piece."

"That's all I can ask." A hesitation and then, "Are you going to continue patrolling?"

"I'm taking Damian back to the cave," Nightwing said, joining in on the conversation. Batman, Arsenal, and Green Arrow can join up with Batgirl and see if they can bring in Scarecrow."

"Sounds good," Barbara said. "Stay safe all of you, or I'll bring you back from the dead to kill you myself."

"Yes ma'am," four properly respectful voices replied.

* * *

Jade paced as the cell in her hand rang and rang, worry twisting in a knot in her gut. "Come on _tình yêu của tôi_. Please answer me." No such luck. She reached his voicemail instead. "Roy, call me," she demanded, fingers clenching around the phone tightly as the baby kicked in her stomach. She hesitated a moment and then added, "I need to know you are safe." She hung up then and placed the phone down only to pace nervously. Her phone rang and she lunged for it, picking up instead of looking to see what was calling. " _Có?_ " she asked, too flustered to answer in anything but the Vietnamese she had learned as a very young child.

"Are you okay sis?" Artemis Crock asked, voice full of concern.

"Yeah," Jade replied, settling down on her bed. "What's new with you?"

"I'm beginning to regret not going with Ollie and Roy to Gotham," came the exasperated reply. "Dinah and Felicity are going to drive me to an early grave."

"Too bad for you little sister," the pregnant woman replied and then froze. "Wait. Did you say Roy was in Gotham?"

" _Ye-es_ ," Artemis replied warily.

"Can I call you back?" Jade didn't wait for a reply. She was already hanging up and dialing Roy's number again.


	16. Part II, Chapter XVI

Bats squeaked curiously from the ceiling of the Batcave as Nightwing guided his little brother into the worn computer chair in front of the massive computer. "We're in and safe," Dick informed Barbara over the comm before removing it and placing it on a table. Damian's breathing was a painful sounding rasp that Dick had been hearing in his ear as he'd carried the boy to safety. Alfred emerged from the shadows as if he'd simply materialized out of thin air and it was proof of how completely out of it the young boy was when he jumped. Dick removed the boy's sweatshirt and shirt, revealing ugly black bruises spreading across the lower right side of his ribcage. There was also bruising across Damian's throat and a large hand print encircled his left wrist. There had been worse injuries caused by fighting Bane but the results still weren't pretty.

"I'll fetch a strong painkiller," Alfred reassured Dick, resting a gentle hand on the young man's shoulder for a moment before bustling off towards the medical supplies. Dick dug for the solvent and sprayed it on, carefully peeling the mask away from his face. Then he repeated the procedure with Damian, at least the boy had thought far enough ahead to wear one, and took a look at tired green eyes. The boy stared back for a moment before he glanced down, ashamed.

"How bad is the pain?" the older boy asked gently. "On a scale of one to ten." Damian considered the question for a moment and then carefully held up eight fingers. "Is that an underestimation?" He got a one shoulder shrug in response and guessed it was probably fairly close. Alfred silently handed over a pill bottle and Dick unscrewed it, removing one and handing it to the boy. Damian swallowed without water but refused to meet Dick's eyes. Alfred left again, probably to fetch gauze to tape up the small boy's ribs and a couple ice packs. "That was a stupid thing to do," Dick told his younger brother. Damian had too much will to squirm but his cheeks flushed slightly and his hands trembled a little. Dick took both small hands between his own, trying to soothe the boy. "Why did you go out?"

"I needed to do something," came the emotionless reply. "And I am capable of defending myself."

"Normally," Dick agreed. "But not today." Damian's head rose and his green eyes flashed for a moment but Alfred stalled the conversation by returning with gauze, medical tape, and two ice packs. Together the old butler and the Wayne heir wrapped the boy's ribs firmly, though Dick thought from a quick investigation that they were bruised rather than broken. Then Alfred shooed Dick away to change out of costume as he checked the child's wrist and throat.

Dick changed in record time and returned to snatch Damian up, the tired child resting his head against his older brother's shoulder. Alfred followed them into the manor, carrying the ice packs, and the two of them carefully settled Damian in his own bed, ice beginning to work on the bruises around his throat and wrist. Alfred then left, probably to prepare for the eventually return of Batman, Robin, Green Arrow, and Arsenal. Dick settled in the chair next to his younger brother's bed, studying the boy. "You shouldn't have gone out," he said at last. "You've been angry and upset about something lately which affected your performance against Bane. You put not only yourself but the rest of your family in danger due to your rash actions." He hesitated a moment, struggling to ascertain the boy's mood. Those normally iced over green eyes were filled with pain and something Dick guessed was shame. "Please don't do it again," he murmured, smoothing a hand through Damian's dark hair. "You scared me."

"I will endeavor not to do so in the future," Damian replied primly and Dick smiled at the boy, leaning over to kiss him on the forehead. The older boy ignored the younger's disgruntled scowl and turned to leave the room. "Grayson," Damian called after him and Dick hesitated. The boy motioned him closer. "Would you-?" He motioned vaguely toward a pad of paper and a pencil sitting on the nightstand and Dick handed them over, watching curiously as Damian scribbled on it.

"What's this?" he asked as the boy handed it over.

"The encryption," the boy rasped. Dick's eyes widened in realization. He gently squeezed Damian's shoulder before leaving the room, shutting the door softly behind him. Pad of the paper in hand, he descended into the Batcave.

* * *

Finding Scarecrow had been a no go. After receiving his sudden freedom from Arkham, he had vanished like smoke dissipating in a strong wind. They had searched fruitlessly, Oracle scanning every security camera in existence in Gotham while they worked, but finally gave up a couple hours before sunrise. Now Jason stepped out of the Batmobile, thoroughly exhausted. He had expected Dick to be asleep by this time so he almost jumped completely out of the Batman uniform when he saw his older brother sitting at the computer. The blank look on Dick's face didn't bode well for anyone. "Uh-oh," Roy muttered from Jason's shoulder, eyes fixed on Dick.

"Your phone rang about twelve times while you were gone," Dick commented, voice emotionless.

Roy crossed to pick up the phone, unlocked it, and then froze. "Crap," he muttered and marched off, already dialing his voicemail. Jason shooed Oliver away as well and crossed the room to stand next to Dick, removing the cowl as he went.

"What happened?" he questioned.

"Damian gave me the encryption," came the reply, Dick motioning with his head towards a pad of paper. Jason glanced at it for a moment and then turned expectantly towards his older brother.

"Did you watch it then?" In response, Dick pressed play.

The Bruce on the screen was dressed in the Batman uniform minus the cowl, just as he had been in Dick's video. His eyes were distant and when he began his tone was terribly blank and professional, as if recording something for Damian was a chore rather than giving his last words. "Damian, if you are seeing this then I am dead and Talia has not yet returned to collect you." Jason winced at the wording, silently cursing Bruce for being an emotionally stunted jerk, but Dick's face was impassive, a sure sign that the worst was yet to come. "If so, there's something I need to tell you. You are not my son." Jason flinched and Dick gave off a little twitch despite the fact that he'd probably heard the message close to a hundred times in the hours he'd been in the cave all by himself.

"Fourteen years ago," Bruce continued. "An organization calling themselves the Light created a clone of my ward at the time, Richard Grayson. The clone was de-aged after four years during one of the Light's operations and I gave him over to Talia al'Ghul to raise. That clone was you. I am sorry for having to deceive you this way." The recording simply cut off there, as if Bruce thought it was all he needed to say. Jason suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to punch the dead man in the face hard. Miniature demon or not, Damian deserved better than this.

"This is why he was so upset," Dick said softly, voice tired.

"No kidding," Jason muttered, once again finding himself disgusted with Bruce. The message began to play again in the background. Dick evidently had it on a loop. "I only have one question."

"Yeah?" Dick asked, wary and tired.

"You have a clone?"

"It's kind of a long story."

"Well," Jason said, sitting down on the edge of the table. "Since it's obvious that you're not going to sleep any time soon, I'd say we have time."

* * *

"Roy Harper if you do not call me back within the next twenty minutes I swear to whatever deity you pray to that I will track you down and kill you." Roy held the phone away from his ear, cringing slightly at the furious tone of the most recent voicemail. He hadn't talked to Jade in a month, though to be fair after their last argument he hadn't been sure she'd ever want to talk to him again, and he wasn't sure he'd ever heard her this angry. He dialed the correct number with trepidation, waiting nervously for his girlfriend to pick up the phone. "Roy Harper this had better be you," Jade growled when she picked up halfway through the second ring.

"Hey sweetheart," Roy replied nervously and got an angry snarl in response.

"Gotham, Roy?" she snapped at him. " _Gotham_?"

"Oracle called and-"

"I don't care," Jade snarled at him. "You are a moron and you are going to get yourself _killed_."

"Just to be clear," Roy said, voice still wary. "Are you objecting to me being in Gotham or the fact that I didn't tell you?" There was a long moment of silence during which the archer wondered if he'd finally said the thing that would made the former assassin snap.

"I was worried about you," Jade admitted at last. "Gotham is the kind of place that gets people killed."

"I'll be careful Jade. I promise," Roy told her.

"You'd better," she threatened in response."Or I'll track down your corpse and bring you back to life so I can kill you myself. And you will be calling me every morning until you leave Gotham."

"Yes ma'am," was Roy's swift reply. It was the only correct thing to say.


	17. Part II, Chapter XVII

Pamela Isley smirked as Harley adjusted the last of the guard uniform. The pair of them would be driving straight into Belle Reve hoping that a breakdown in communication between Gotham and the Penitentiary would allow Harley to appear like someone escorting a new prisoner. It wouldn't be that far of a stretch; Poison Ivy was always escorted by female guards because of the stupid belief that the more deviously seductive plant gases and pollens she was rumored to have possessed wouldn't affect those bringing her in. Still having just one guard was pushing it. The two females had attempted to persuade Selina Kyle, the infamous Catwoman, to assist them but she had firmly refused. The conversation had ended with Selina saying, "I hope you understand why I can't wish you good luck." Both women had nodded and left without a fight. They knew that even though any relationship between Selina and Batman was long over, the thief cared for the Bat's children. And releasing the Joker could result in their injury or death.

One of the guards groaned on the ground and Ivy knocked him back out with a smooth kick. Harley smiled at her, looking surprisingly innocent without her usual garb. "Let's go," the former psychiatrist said, motioning towards the empty prison vehicle just waiting for them. Ivy smiled and headed for the back, ready to be locked up. This was definitely going to be a mission to remember.

* * *

Damian woke from his sleep choking on a scream. Ever since he'd watched that video memories had been coming back. Everything from being beaten near to death by Two Face to Deathstroke's brutal training and brainwashing was up for grabs. The result was a stream of nightmares that had him fighting down screams and soaked in sweat every time he managed to break free. Shivering under the suddenly too thin blankets, Damian studied the room. Sunlight seeped in under the thick dark curtains and spread gently across the cream colored walls. After all this time it still looked like a hotel room and the knew part of Damian that was very much Dick Grayson was very displeased about that.

The boy slid out of the bed, sweat still drying on his skin, and opened his closet to remove a fresh set of clothing. All his clothes looked the same, the League had little use for individualism, and part of him balked at that. Damian glared at the clothing, frustrated and overwhelmed, and then slammed the closet door. It was a stupid and immature thing to do. Worse yet, it didn't make him feel any better. Instead fury mixed with the fear and uncertainty, making his hands shake. Damian clenched those shaking hands into fists and backed away towards the bed. He steadied his breathing using meditation techniques and sat down on the edge of the bed. Once he was completely calm he began to consider his next move.

He could not continue on as he was before. The confident Damian Wayne who was the son of Batman and Talia al'Ghul was no more. He had died the moment Father-Bruce-had revealed the truth. What was left behind was a shaken and confused child-clone really-with far too much training to be anything but lethal. He was a tool that, should he fall into the wrong hands, was probably capable of taking down the entire Justice League. Keeping that in mind, Damian reached for his phone and brought up the number of the one person who the boy knew would give him an honest opinion. He pressed the call button and lifted the ringing phone to his ear, waiting nervously for the person on the other end to answer.

"What do you want Demon Spawn?" Timothy Drake snarled over the phone line. "I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"Drake..." Damian began and then trailed off before starting again. "Tim, we need to talk."

There was a long silence and then Drake said, "Give me a minute and I'll cal you back." He then hung up before the younger boy, or was he the older one now, could respond.

* * *

Dick woke from a dead sleep, heart pounding in terror. It took him a moment to realize the terror wasn't coming from him. On the other end of the couch where they'd settled after Batman's return from patrol so they could talk about their newest problem, Jason groaned and peeled open eyelids to stare at his older brother. "Wha' time is it?" he slurred out and Dick shrugged at him, allowing his eyes to drift closed. It had been a long time since there'd been anyone on the other end of the bond so feeling it come alive now was like realizing he'd been missing a limb for half his life. He struggled to remember how to reach out and nudge Damian, hopefully so he could calm the boy down.

Reaching out through the bond was harder than Dick remembered but at the time when it had first been active he'd been trapped in a test tube with nothing to do and Damian had been reaching back. Apparently making a one sided connection after years of not speaking to anyone that way was extremely difficult. "Wait a minute," Jason called, suddenly sounding more awake. "Did I dream it all or did we seriously have a conversation about you having a clone last night?"

Dick groaned in frustration and opened his eyes, ignoring the link for the time being. "You didn't dream it." Jason glared at Dick from the other end of the couch as if it were his older brother's fault that they had yet another crisis to deal with on top of the fact that Scarecrow had broken out of Arkham and Bruce was dead.

"Do you and B plan this crap on purpose?" Jason demanded. "Because this is terrible timing." Dick shot his younger brother an unamused look and Jason smirked. Dick growled, seriously considering trying to throw his younger brother across the room, and Jason held his hands up in surrender. "No need to get your underwear in a knot Golden Boy. I'm just kidding." A pause and then, "So what are you going to do?"

" _We_ ," Dick said pointedly. "Are going to talk to Damian."

"Do I _have to_ be involved in this?"

"Yes," Dick replied, tone uncompromising.

"Fine," Jason groaned. "But coffee first." The younger man stumbled towards the kitchen before Dick could even think of an argument against that. With a sigh he closed his eyes again and reached out over the bond, deciding to try and reach Damian mentally while he waited.


	18. Part II, Chapter XVIII

Damian was sitting on the edge of his bed swinging his legs back and forth while he waited for Drake to call him back when something poked him. The boy twitched and glared over his shoulder only to discover that there was no one in the room with him. Deciding that recent events probably had him imaging things, he turned back towards the phone. A moment later he was nudged again. Damian twitched, eyes widening when he realized the nudge had been mental. His eyes fell closed and he reached out with his own mind in a single sharp jab. In return he received something that felt like a wave of amusement wash over him before he could close off the bond.

The instant the invisible link snapped shut the boy's phone rang, startling him. He almost flew off the bed, fingers trembling as he snatched it up and pressed the receive call button. "Yes?" he got out, managing to make his voice steady.

"You said you wanted to talk," Drake returned, voice tone all business. Damian twitched a little, suddenly uncertain. Should he even be sharing this information? Should he really have even given Grayson the encryption the night before? He wasn't sure. "Damian?" The question was hesitant, as if Drake were no longer certain whether or not the younger boy was on the other end of the line.

"I am still here Drake," Damian replied. "I am just...thinking."

"You said you needed to talk to me," Drake replied. "And I do not have the ability to read minds."

"Naturally," the boy replied sourly, an automatic reaction to the older one's jab. He hesitated a moment longer and then added, "Father's message to me was...interesting to say the least."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I am putting things mildly," Damian returned. "I was given a rather unwanted revelation." He paused and pulled in a deep, nervous breath before jumping straight into the whole mess. "I am not, nor have I ever been, the child of Bruce Wayne and Talia al'Ghul." Drake's startled intake of breath on the other end of the line was surprisingly comforting.

"...Okay," Drake said at last. "So who's kid are you then?" Damian squirmed for a moment on his bed before forcefully stilling himself despite the fact that Drake could not see him.

"I suspect you could say Mary and Thomas Grayson," the boy admitted finally.

"H-how?" Tim stammered and if Damian wasn't so terrified by the whole situation he would have been smirking. "How is that possible? Thomas and Mary Grayson died years before you were even born."

"Yes," Damian agreed. "I suspect you could also call a man named Mark Desmond my parent though there is no genetic connection between the two of us." He paused for a moment, debating on whether or not to share the last piece of knowledge he had gained from one of his more recent returned memories. "There's more but I'm not sure whether I should tell you over a phone line."

In response Drake began muttering under his breath and for a moment Damian heard the clicking of computer keys. "Do Jay and Dick know about this?"

"Yes," Damian said, voice suddenly hollow. "But I might be a danger to them. If it became necessary to eliminate me they would hesitate. I trust that you would do whatever was necessary to keep your brothers safe."

_"Jesus_ ," Tim hissed over the phone. After a moment the tapping resumed. "Okay, listen. I'm buying you a plane ticket to Hong Kong at two o'clock this afternoon. You'll pick up your ticket at the flight desk at Gotham International and Cass will be waiting for you at the airport when you land. I trust your passport is in order." Damian nodded before he realized the other boy couldn't see him and then croaked out an agreement. Making sure her son's passport was up to date was one of the last things Talia had done before she'd dropped him off at Wayne Manor. "Good. Everything else is up to you." That said, Drake hung up the phone. Damian placed the phone down on his bed and stood, turning to shut his door only to freeze. Grayson and Todd stood in his doorway, both staring at the boy with narrowed eyes.

* * *

Barbara Gordon was settling in to enjoy a relaxing afternoon with her father, one of the few she managed to grab since the commissioner job kept him busy, when the news ruined it all. To be fair, what was being reported was going to ruin more than just her day. The Joker had just escaped from Belle Reve. Their phone began ringing off the hook almost immediately after they read the headline and her father scrambled to answer it. "Sorry sweetie," he said after a moment, leaning down to kiss her. "But they need me at the station."

"No problem," the red head said to the already empty room. The door snapped shut behind Jim Gordon and Barbara leaned over to grab the remote and shut off the television. In the sudden silence of the apartment, she carefully began rolling her way towards her room where her laptop rested. There was no way the red head was getting to the Clock Tower, not with Stephanie at work that day but she could do some research on her personal computer provided that she wiped her search history so her dad would never have a chance to figure out what she was up to.

Five minutes later Barbara was flipping through security cameras at Belle Reve. She found herself watching as Amanda Waller glared at Poison Ivy and a woman in a guard's uniform. "The two of you will not be leaving this prison," Waller said, her voice firm. Ivy snorted and flipped her red hair over her shoulder while the other woman snickered.

"Doesn't matter now, does it love?" she drawled. "My puddin's already free."

"And he'll be back in here soon enough," Waller replied as two guards stumbled their way into her office, looking woozy and off-balance but irritated. "Wilkes, Hale, would the pair of you mind escorting Miss Quinn and Miss Ivy to separate cells?" The two nodded and Barbara switched cameras with a growl. Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy had broken the Joker out of prison. Broken that lunatic out of prison while _Jason Todd_ was running around as Batman. Could the situation possibly get any worse? Barbara decided she didn't want to know the answer to that question.

* * *

Jason wasn't sure whether he wanted to pull his own hair out of hang Damian by his ankles out the window. The little brat was running away. After handing over the key to unlock a terrifying secret he'd decided to turn tail and run like the child he really was. The change from the way he had been behaving, as a miniature assassin, was startling. "You're just running off?" The words escaped him and the kid flinched slightly.

"I-I can't-" The boy twitched and little and scowled at Dick. "Stop it Grayson."

"I'm just trying to figure out what's wrong," Dick replied earnestly. Jason glanced black and forth between the two of them, his irritation momentarily derailed.

"What's going on here?" he demanded sharply.

"We have a mental link," Dick replied. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal?" Jason retorted. "I'd say that's a pretty big deal."

"It doesn't matter right now," Damian cut in. "Because I'm leaving."

" _No_ ," both Jason and Dick snapped. Damian folded his arms across his chest and glared.

"I am going. I already have a ticket." Jason snorted. As if that would settle the whole matter. The boy should really know better by now.

"No," Jason said again, voice sliding down into the Batman growl. "Not until you tell us why?" Damian shuffled uncomfortably at that before forcefully stilling himself. Next he glanced down at the floor as if it held the answers to the entire universe. His small hands twitched at his sides as if Damian was contemplating punching his older brother.

"I'm a weapon," Damian said at last. "And there's still programming living in my brain. If someone activates that programming then I could kill you both before you'd do what would be necessary to stop me."

"So you're running away?" Jason demanded.

"I'm going to Hong Kong," Damian replied coolly. Jason looked at Dick who's blue eyes were wide with sudden realization.

"You're trusting Tim to kill you if necessary."

"Yes," was the boy's simply reply. Jason felt something go cold and hard in his chest. "Now if the two of you don't mind, I have a flight to catch."


	19. Part II, Chapter XIX

Damian climbed off the airplane feeling numb. It had been a little over sixteen hours of nightmare filled restless sleeping on a crowded airplane after leaving his older brothers behind at the manor. Stephanie had taken him to the airport with little complaint. She had sited a family emergency as a reason to get out of work early and had been waiting for him at the front door of the manor at a quarter til one. "Are you sure you want to leave?" she'd asked when she'd dropped him off. She had been the first one he'd told about Bruce's message when he'd been scared and hurting immediately afterwords. He'd clung to her until she'd had to coax him upstairs into his own bed so she could leave and then whispered the truth in her ear. He'd sworn her to secrecy afterwords and nearly worried himself sick for the first twenty-four hours waiting for her to tell his brothers.

"It is the best way to ensure that everyone remains safe."

"Except perhaps my boyfriend's peace of mind if he has to kill you," the blonde had retorted.

"I cannot help that," the boy had returned. "If at all possible I would eliminate myself from the playing field entirely but Grayson and Todd would be averse to that idea and would use all their ability to prevent me from doing so."

"You are ridiculous," Stephanie had replied, exasperated. Then she had hugged him tightly. "Don't do anything stupid, okay." Damian had nodded and clung to her tightly for a moment before she pushed him lightly. "Don't miss your flight Demon Bird."

Now the boy walked through the crowded airport, backpack bouncing between his shoulder blades. He headed for the baggage claim almost automatically, scanning for threats. Luckily for his peace of mind, the people around him were simply tired from their travels or waiting impatiently for their luggage to arrive. Damian removed his baggage from the carousel and turned only to spot someone that set alarms off in his head. For a moment the exhausted boy tensed. Then he realized who it was. Cassandra Cain smiled slightly at the younger assassin and subtly beckoned him over. He rolled the back over and gracefully accepted the one armed hug. "Come," the young woman ordered and guided him out of the airport.

* * *

Gotham was in chaos. The Joker was cackling throughout the streets so loudly that even Scarecrow who had been out at the beginning of the night had taken cover. Worse yet was the knowledge that Jason had ditched the cowl and cape. Dick's brother was out as Red Hood hunting the man that had brutally beaten him and blown him up. That left Dick and Stephanie frantically searching Gotham for any sign of their wayward ally while Oracle hacked every camera in the city. Dick had the distinct feeling that everything was only going to get worse. He downed two more thugs by the riverfront and was lifting his hand toward his comm when a figure dropped smoothly in front of him.

For a moment the oldest child of Batman hoped it was Jason admitting defeat or at least showing up for help. Then he got a good look at the mask. " _You_ ," the acrobat snarled. Deathstroke the Terminator had to be smirking underneath his mask.

"I hear you're having a little trouble," the mercenary replied casually. Dick growled, hands tightening into fists. He might not have had personal experience with Slade Wilson but he had all of Damian's memories tucked away in his head and while most had blurred over time he remembered fighting with the man before. Those weren't pleasant memories.

"I want you out of this city," Dick snarled, bristling like and angry wolf whose territory was being infringed on.

"Not a chance. You see, you have something of mine." Something like ice ran down Dick's spine. He wanted desperately for Jason to show up and shoot the man, despite the lack of good it would do if Bruce's files on the man were correct. It didn't happen.

"He's not property," the acrobat hissed only to realize a moment later that he might have confirmed the mercenary's suspicions. "And you're not getting him."

"We'll see about that," came the response and Deathstroke slid away into the shadows as if he belonged there.

Dick swore and then activated his comm, "Any luck Batgirl?"

"Nothing," came the disgusted reply. "You?"

"Not a glimpse," Dick told the girl. "But I found someone else far less pleasant."

"Who?"

"Deathstroke." Stephanie's indrawn breath echoed over the line.

"Have you told Oracle?" the blonde questioned at last.

"She's next on my list as soon as you get off the line," he told her. "Stay safe Batgirl."

"You too," Stephanie replied. Then there was nothing but silence. Dick took a deep breath, steeled himself, and called Oracle.

* * *

Timothy Drake was hunched over his laptop in a dark apartment living room when Cass arrived with the little demon. "There's trouble," he announced when Cass shut the door.

"You will have to be more specific than that Drake," Damian replied. Tim could tell the boy was trying to sound just as he usually did but the exhaustion and fear were a strong undercurrent.

"Research?" Cass questioned softly and Tim shook his head. "Gotham." She sounded certain. He nodded in confirmation.

"The Joker escaped from Belle Reve yesterday and has been causing chaos in the streets. Furthermore since the Joker arrived in Gotham not a single person has seen Batman."

"Jason," Cass said simply and Tim sighed turning around to face her.

"Probably," he confirmed. Damian's eyes narrowed. " _What_?" Tim demanded.

"Is there some way we can tell if the programming remains?" Damian questioned. Tim and Cass exchanged looks.

"I'll see how fast I can get into contact with M'gann," Tim said at last.

* * *

Jason Todd was drowning in fury. For a few days everything had been bright in his normally bleak and angry had been bright. Or as bright as it could be when Bruce had died before they could straighten things out between them. Then Damian had found out he was a clone, left for Hong Kong, and the Joker returned. Now all he could see was red. Once again everything good had been ripped away from him but this time the Joker was the one who was going to be hurting. Jason wasn't going to be the one bleeding on the floor watching numbers count down to the end of his life. This time he was going to get even and no one was going to be able to stop him.


	20. Part II, Chapter XX

M'gann M'orzz was very pretty in spite of, or perhaps because of, her green skin. Her red hair was cut short to brush around her elfin face and a scattering of freckles danced across her cheeks. Her wide brown eyes brought to mind innocent puppies. She floated into the apartment in Hong Kong two hours after Drake had managed to contact her. From his position on the couch, Damian studied the woman warily. While still in the League he had been taught to fear anyone who could reach into his mind and had learned ways of shielding himself from psychic attacks. Talia, who he had still believed to be his mother at the time, had insisted he be ready to use everything he had learned and even now, knowing the cruel truth of his heritage, he did not wish to disappoint her.

"This won't hurt a bit," the Martian cheerfully reassured him, misinterpreting his distrustful gaze. No one else in the room seemed to want to correct her misconception. She settled cross legged, floating over the table in front of the couch. Damian's eyes met her gentle brown ones and he flinched when they suddenly flared green. Then both M'gann and the boy went very, very still.

For a long, breathless moment nothing happened. M'gann's glowing eyes were locked on the boy's without blinking and their slow, even breathing was the only visible sign that they both were still alive. Then the Martian twitched. For a moment the worried onlookers thought they had imagined the movement. It was only when she flinched again, cowering away from nothing, that they realized she had really moved. This continued for several long minutes. Tim, finding himself too nervous to watch, turned his attention to the Gotham status reports on his laptop. Cass refused to look away. A clock ticked softly in the background, counting away the passing minutes. Then Damian stopped breathing.

"Tim." Cass's quiet statement of the boy's name was not meant to startle. Instead it was calm and patient, as if what was transpiring happened every single day. Tim glanced at her and she nodded her head at their unbreathing younger brother. Tim's eyes widened in absolute panic. Expensive laptop toppling to the ground, he stumbled to his feet and raced for the kitchen.

"See if you can wake M'gann," he called to his sister. Cass crossed the room silently and reached out a hand, gently waving it in front of the Martian's face. Nothing. She shook the other girl lightly but got no response. Damian's face was beginning to change colors and Tim was running water into some sort of container in the kitchen. Cass considered her options. Time seemed to slow to almost a standstill as Tim dumped water over Damian's head and Cass slapped M'gann.

Damian startled to life, choking and gasping as he struggled for air, while M'gann's eyes became worried and brown. "What happened?" Cass calmly questioned. Damian and M'gann exchanged wide eyed looks in response. Damian felt as if he'd been pushed far beyond his limits by his teachers. His hear was racing and he was shaking all over. He was also soaking wet.

"The programming w-was easy e-e-enough to find," M'gann stuttered. She too was shaking. It looked as if she'd been caught out in a violent sno storm. "I t-tried to remove it b-but it's too deeply ingrained. Cadmus, t-they set some kind of k-kill code in his mind. I've never seen anything like it." Her eyes went very wide and she added, "I was trying to stop it but I couldn't figure out how."

"So the programming cannot be removed?" Damian questioned, fighting to keep his voice neutral.

"No," M'gann told him, brown eyes welling with tears. The boy felt hope flutter weakly in his chest once before it died. He stood silently, no longer caring that he was drenched, and left the room before his utter devastation could show. He could never go home.

* * *

The sun had risen hours ago but Gotham appeared abandoned. Cars were stopped in the middle of intersections and not a single person, police officer or civilian, could be seen. Somewhere a mad clown was stringing a set of explosives beneath the expensively built new apartment complex at the edge of the Narrows. The Batman, in contrast, was conspicuous by his absence. Rumors were slowly spreading, each one insisting that Gotham's shadowed savior was dead. The National Guard had been called. Nightwing, Batgirl, and Oracle were grabbing a few much needed hours of sleep.

Deep within the twisted confines of the Gotham underworld, Red Hood hunted for his prey. Jason Todd was not tired. His body might have been running on fumes but he was wide awake. His methodical search had brought him to the doorstep of two unfortunate arms dealers who often sold explosives to the Joker. Their names were Ralph and Stevie. They were brothers.

Stevie was already dead, lying in a puddle of blood on the cheap linoleum floor. Ralph was pinned to a table with a knife through his hand, blubbering. Stevie had died in agony. His bladder had emptied itself just before his untimely death. The entire apartment was beginning to smell like urine. Jason leaned casually against a wall, standing carefully outside of the mess on the floor. The whited out eyes of his helmet were fixed on Ralph. "Where?" he demanded for the fifth time.

"I dunno man, I dunno!" Ralph blubbered. "He didn't say. Jus' wanted enough o' the stuff to string together." The man flinched when Jason fluidly rose to his full height.

"What where his exact words?" Jason snarled.

"I dunno," Ralph said again, face messy with snot and tears. The knife Jason was holding flipped twice in the air before the hilt smacked into his palm, blade bright with blood. Ralph let out a little frightened wail. "Look man, 'e just said somethin' about gettin' enough to blown down an apartment building. 'Kept asking 'bout it and then laughing." Jason was gone before the whimpering arms dealer had completely finished his statement. Maybe Ralph would manage to survive the night. If not, the Narrows would be short two arms dealers instead of just one. _What a pity._

* * *

Slade Wilson listened to the perfect silence of Gotham. From his perch on the top of an ancient warehouse he could see the vast emptiness of the city. Even the ever present rats that lurked around the docks had fled as if from a sinking ship. The clone was not in Gotham. There should have been no reason for the mercenary to remain here. Damian Wayne had flown to Hong Kong about a day ago so by all rights the mercenary should be following. Instead he remained in Gotham.

It was not idle curiosity that kept Deathstroke the Terminator in Gotham. Without its beloved protector the city would soon dissolve into nothing but rubble and chaos. That did not matter. The original Batman had been killed on a Justice League mission. That also did not matter. Slade knew for a fact that Jason Tood, the second or third Robin depending on your counting, had been running around the city as Batman before this disaster. Either he would retake the cowl or Richard Grayson, the original Robin no matter the count, would take it upon himself to become the Bat. Regardless, the clone's loyalty would send him running back to Gotham. It was only a matter of time.

* * *

Damian sat on the balcony of Tim and Cass's current home shivering as a cool breeze brushed against him. The sliding door behind him hissed open and then softly closed. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you," M'gann said, her voice gently. The boy lifted a single shoulder in a subtle shrug. The Martian floated silently behind him. She did not press for him to speak. He was glad. His face was stained with tears and his voice would probably crack if he tried to speak. "I think," she said finally, "that you would be strong enough to fight off the command if necessary." Her eyes gleamed with conviction. "I've been inside your mind and I can tell you that you are stronger than you think."

Damian's eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat. "Thank you," he said, his voice thick. Hope began to bloom timidly in his chest again. "I think-" He hesitated a moment, considering what he was going to say before continuing. "I think I would like to go home. To Gotham."

"Pack your bags and tell your siblings then," M'gann told him, voice warm. "I'll take you in the bioship. She's much faster than a plane."


	21. Part II, Chapter XXI

The newest apartment complex to the Narrows rose up and drew the eye to it like a shiny penny on a grimy street. Jason all but flew through Gotham's rapidly darkening streets, hoping to catch the Joker there. Provided that Ralph had been telling the truth, the clown was planning on blowing a building sky high. Hopefully Jason had picked the right one. This was the obvious choice, a sign that might warn off the approaching National Guard, but there was a possibility that the mad man had chosen another location. This whole thing could be a wild goose chase. Jason hoped not but he was determined to hunt the Joker for as long as it would take.

The wayward vigilante stopped the bike and was heading for the gleaming front door of Hanover Apartments when he noticed the sewer cover. It had been lifted and dragged aside to reveal the dank and hungry maw of Gotham's sewer system. _Bingo._ Jason grinned under his helmet as he approached. He'd just found the clown, and from the looks of things, it was going to be just him and the Joker. It was like Christmas.

His helmet filtered out much of the stench and the infrared vision allowed him to see well enough in the dark to navigate. That was how he discovered the explosives. Their extra long fuses had been spliced together like some kind of mad science experiment gone wrong. The arrangement would allow the Joker to light just one fuse and set off the whole set. There was enough explosive material to sink Hanover Apartments into the ground and then some. Jason followed the mutated fuse but soon enough all he would have needed to find the Joker was the singing.

"London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London bridge is falling down, my fair lady." The mad cackle that followed the singing made Jason grind his teeth together in blind fury. _"Count with me!"_ his memory mocked him with crazy cheer. _"Twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five...Come on, count!"_ For a minute phantom pains flared across his back and side, blazing like he'd been lit on fire. Jason shook it away with sheer, stubborn will power and reached inside his jacket for one of his loaded guns.

The Joker was skipping around the fuse like a diabolical kindergarten girl, grinning with maniac glee. Something sour and dark twisted in Jason's gut. For a moment he tasted copper and salt on his tongue and he could hear the sounds of his own pained screams echoing in his ears. Then the Joker laughed again, giggled really, and the sound bounced off the tunnel walls before clearing his had. Jason's finger carefully removed the safety. He pulled the slide back almost automatically, the click an almost comforting sound. Then he lifted the gun and fired.

* * *

Damian stepped onto Gotham's streets, a hand clenched in the material of a black duffel that was almost as big as he was. "I'll drop the rest of your things off at the manor," M'gann called after him. The boy lifted his free hand in acknowledgement. The bioship rose silently to vanish into the dark sky above and Damian made his way down the street. Gotham was quieter than he ever remembered it being. Wind whistled down the street, making him shiver. It carried with it the sound of maniacal laughter. The boy shivered again, this time not because of the cold, and began following the sound. He had just reached the open sewer cover when the laughter became a scream.

Damian scrambled down a slimy ladder and into the shadows below. He slipped off the last run and landed with a clatter, duffel smacking hard against his side, almost throwing him off balance. He winced and shook a little, listening carefully. The laughter started up again and Damian followed it, footsteps as silent as smoke. He rounded a corner to see Jason looming over the Joker. The mad clown was bleeding from a bullet wound in his shoulder and laughing despite the blood blooming as if it were a flower. There was a fist sized bruise growing on the maniac's jaw. To anyone who didn't know the truth about what the Joker had done to Jason, the scene might have been horrifying. Damian found it immensely satisfying instead. He liked Jason, despite his best attempts to the contrary. He turned back to cut apart the fuses on the explosives.

The boy returned a couple minutes later, explosives no longer a danger to anyone. The Joker had been shot in the left foot during the time when Damian was gone. Blood was now staining the concrete and dripping into the murky sewer water. The trained assassin calmly stepped around the corner, careful to make his footsteps echo. Jason spun around, gun raised and finger on the trigger. When he saw who was standing there, the older boy relaxed slightly. "Oh. It's you," he said, a hint of something dark in his tone. "I as wondering when one of you was coming to stop me. Did they pull you out of Hong Kong then?" Damian shook his head in response. Then he considered the situation before him. At last he nodded slightly, as if he'd come to some satisfying conclusion.

"Actually I'm not here to stop you."

"Oh really?" Jason questioned, tone skeptical.

"Yes," Damian confirmed. "First of all, the Joker is scum and the League would have done away with him years ago had they been in control of Gotham. Secondly, and more importantly, had I been tortured and brutally murdered by some lowlife criminal, then revived by the Lazarus Pit and we happened to catch up with whoever killed I would want to kill them too. And you would have let me." Damian's green eyes met Jason's covered ones with no hesitation. "I will extend the same courtesy to you." Jason did not move, as if waiting for the catch. The Joker had finally fallen silent behind the older boy and was beginning to look a little worried. "Do what you need to," Damian told his older brother, unflinching.

Jason removed his helmet then and Damian stared, wide eyed, at his brother's genuine smile. "I knew there was a reason I liked you." That said, Jason spun around on his heel. The Joker had only a moment to look afraid before Jason smacked him hard with the gun. The clown collapsed, unconscious, while Jason tucked the gun away. "Come on kid," he said. "This city needs Batman."

"And Robin," Damian added, trying to sound more certain than he felt. More certain than he'd felt when Tim had shoved the duffel into his hands and told him what was inside it. He grabbed the older boy's helmet while Jason shoulder the Joker's limp and still bleeding form.

"Oh really?"

Damian turned a shy grin on his brother and lifted the duffel a little. "I've got permission."

* * *

Jade couldn't sleep. She had tossed and turned, the baby kicking out a drum beat on the inside of her stomach, before finally rising and stumbling blearily into the living room. That was when she found out exactly what was happening in Gotham. The newscaster on the street looked into the camera with wide, frightened eyes as she reported that the Joker was running wild, the National Guard had been called in, and Batman was nowhere to be seen. Instantly she felt wide awake.

She scrambled out of the room while a new newscaster safe inside a broadcasting building droned on behind her. She searched desperately for her phone and once she found it she was dialing immediately, hands shaking. She paced in the living room as the phone rang and a new reporter came on, this one talking about some car accident no one cared about. "Yeah?" Roy's calm voice was a balm to her frayed nerves the instant she heard it.

"Are you okay?" she asked, not bothering to disguise the frantic worry in her voice. "I saw the news."

"Dick insisted Ollie and I stay in as soon as he got the news," Roy replied. "We're not allowed out until the clown has been brought in.

"Good." Jade let out a little sigh of relief. "In that case I'm calling to let you know that I am going to kill my co-worker and since I'm pregnant you're going to have to come help me dispose of the body."

"Melinda again?" Roy questioned with a laugh. Jade grinned at the droll looking newscaster on the screen before she realized what she was doing and glared at him. Melinda Carr was a fellow retail worker at the secondhand thrift store Jade had been working at since she'd left the League and informed Roy she was pregnant. The other woman was loud, bossy, and talked with a stuff British accent that turned into her natural, flat Midwest one when she was tired. In short, she drove Jade absolutely crazy.

" _Yes!_ " the former assassin hissed. "Today she was lecturing me on how to properly fold shirts. I've known how to fold shirts as per store requirements since I was twelve. Furthermore all our shirts are supposed to be on hangers." Roy laughed again and Jade swore at him cheerfully in Vietnamese. "Don't laugh at me! This is serious stuff."

"Of course," her boyfriend replied, laughter still evident in his tone. "This is a matter of life and death."

"Jerk," Jade told him, rolling her eyes. Roy started full on laughing again and the baby kicked. They fell silent for a few minutes, content to listen to each other's breathing. Then Jade asked, "Have you told Oliver about me yet?"

"No," Roy said, voice going soft.

"Why not?" Jade pressed gently. She was six months pregnant but Oliver Queen still didn't know that she and Roy were together. In fact, Jade wasn't sure Queen even knew she existed.

"It isn't that I'm ashamed of you," her boyfriend quickly reassured her. "I love you Jade and you're the most amazing girl I've ever met."

"Then what is it?"

"Ollie and I argue. A lot," Roy told her. Jade nodded and muted the television so she could focus only on her boyfriend. "And every time it's the worst experience I've ever had."

"And he doesn't normally approve of your choice in women?" Jade guessed.

"Exactly," Roy replied, sounding disheartened. "And things have been going well between us lately. I just don't want to lose what little family I have left." Jade could understand that. Her father, Lawrence Crock, rarely showed any interest in his daughters beyond teaching them to kill and her mother disapproved of her life choices. Artemis was the only person Jade really considered family anymore and the older girl would do just about anything to keep a good relationship with her sister.

"What if I came to Gotham to help you explain everything? Then if something does go wrong you won't be on your own." Jade kept her voice, not pushing because she loved Roy and didn't want to drive him away.

"You would do that?" Roy sounded hopeful and a little bit awed.

"I'm packing right now," Jade told him, smiling as she headed for the bedroom. She hesitated a moment and then added, "I love you." It was one of the most truthful things she had ever said.


	22. Part II, Chapter XXII

Dick stood in front of the case that held Jason's modified Batsuit. Alfred had taken his usual care with the uniform and although Jason was taller and broader in the shoulders, the suit would fit better than a spare one of Bruce's. The oldest Wayne child had hoped that Jason would return and shoulder the mantle once again but it seemed as if his hopes were in vain. Somewhere in the shadows of Gotham his wayward brother was hunting the Joker. At the same time, the National Guard was rushing toward the city. If Batman were to re-emerge it needed to be now.

The Wayne heir lifted a shaking hand and opened the glass case. He had just grabbed a handful of the cape, intending to pull it out, when someone stomped into the cave. "I mean you won't be able to wear whatever he gave you. You're too tiny," Jason's voice said. Dick whirled around to face his brother, suddenly furious. His hands were already clenching into fists when he realized Damian was scrambling after the older boy. "Maybe there's one of Dickiebird's old ones sitting around that you can borrow? What do you think Dick?" Jason grinned, wide and unashamed, at his older brother. Dick took a deep, calming breath, and then punched Jason hard on the jaw.

While his brother was still reeling from the unexpected hit, Dick turned and smiled at Damian. "Now what did you need Dami?"

"Umm..." The boy's green eyes were wide as he stared at Dick. "I,uh, I need a uniform."

"I think that can be arranged," Dick told him.

"What was that for?" Jason demanded, finally regaining his voice.

"Running off on an anger fueled revenge trip _without backup_ ," Dick replied.

Jason sputtered for a moment and then jerked and thumb towards Damian. "What about him?"

"My presence was largely incidental," Damian pointed out reasonably.

"What side are you on?" Jason demanded. Damian shrugged, smirking slightly. Dick let out a delighted little cackle at Jason's predicament. Those two were going to work wonderfully together.

Jason fumed at them both for a minute before snapping, "Find Damian a uniform that's close to his size and both of you change. I'm leaving in five minutes with or without you."

"Of course," Damian replied, managing to make it sound like he found his older brother idiotic. Jason growled before throwing his hands in the air and storming past his older brother to the case that held his version of the Batman costume. Dick wrapped an arm around Damian's shoulders and headed for storage. There would definitely be a uniform there that would fit the boy until Damian had time to make some modifications of his own.

* * *

Timothy Drake had hit a dead end. _Again._ He'd been trying to discover what the beam that had theoretically killed Bruce had been composed of but so far he wasn't having much luck. The Watchtower files on Batman's death were sealed beyond Tim's ability to hack them. Dick was a good teacher and Tim was an excellent student but the encryption was proving to be far beyond his ability. He'd been struggling with it for days but to no avail.

Damian was who had given the older boy a much needed breakthrough. The boy had leaned over Tim's shoulder just before leaving with M'gann only to stare in what had appeared to be awe at the string of code. He'd scribbled something down just before he'd hurried off and that string of code had given Tim his first breakthrough. Then he'd hit a second wall of code. He scowled at it, fingers tapping restlessly. Then he blinked. And stared. Someone encrypting the file had made a very basic mistake. The second layer had the exact same flaw as the first. A slim smile crept onto the boy's face and he quickly began to hack.

Each of the four layers of protection had the same very small flaw in them. Finally, after days of exhausting and mind numbing work, he was in. Tim clicked through the blurry photos in the front of the file first, eyes settling on a familiar figure. At first he felt relief. This was proof that Bruce was alive and Tim wasn't crazy. Then he began scrolling through the rest of the file. A dark, ravenous fury began to overtake him.

Ordinarily Tim would have thought nothing of the encryption. Bruce was paranoid to an extraordinary degree and often enough did not let his children know what missions he was working on for the Justice League. Tim had initially suspected that this was one of those times. He had been wrong. Inside the file were regular updates from Bruce, ever two days if he wasn't mistaken, to each of his children in video format. Certain persons in the League, and Tim suspected the founding members since Oliver had been sincere in his grief over the death of Bruce, had purposefully hidden this information from Bruce's children. For a moment Tim considered throwing his computer. Instead he took several deep breaths to calm himself and clicked on the first video from Bruce to him, timestamped a few hours after his death.

Bruce appeared on the screen inside what Tim guess was a cheap hotel room. He appeared to be a little bruised and battered but otherwise relatively unharmed. "Hello Tim," he said. "It has been roughly two hours and twelve minutes since I was reported dead by the Justice League. This and the recordings for the rest of the family should appear on the computer in the Cave in about another hour as per my instructions to the League. As you can see, I am clearly not dead." Bruce smirked at the camera and Tim snorted, wiping a hand across watering eyes.

"I am on a secret mission for the League," Bruce continued. "Just about a week ago we received a mysterious transmission from the border Qurac shares with Bialya. The signal was weak at best but what little of the message we managed to intercepted mentioned the Light. Clark, being the unthinking idiot that he is, wanted to go charging to the location but I advised caution. We then devised a plan to fake my death so I could infiltrate whatever organization sent the transmission. I will do my best to keep you and your siblings updated on my progress. I love you all." Bruce looked a little uncomfortable at stating his affections aloud and Tim found himself laughing a little through the tears streaming down his cheeks. "Rest well," Bruce added with a fond smile, a hint of steel in his voice. "And Tim that means you actually need to go to bed." Then the man reached forward and turned the camera off.

Tim found himself sitting in the dark, crying silently while Cass climbed in through the window. The young woman removed her cowl, shook out her short dark hair, and then crossed the room to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. "What is it?" she asked.

"He's not dead," Tim replied with a watery smile, motioning a hand at the recordings on the screen. Cass smiled back at him, sharing his relief. "I need to pack. It's time to go home."

* * *

Barbara Gordon nearly choked on her coffee cup when the image came up on one of her computers. There was Batman, Jason again judging by the build, and Nightwing was at his side. So was Robin. Who had decided to let Damian out as Robin? And did Tim know the younger boy had taken his place? Barbara slammed down her cup and hacked onto their line. "Would one of you boys explain what exactly is going on?" she demanded, biting down her laughter when they all flinched on the screen.

"Umm..." Dick mumbled, shuffling his feet a little.

"I can explain," Jason blurted out at the same time.

"I have permission," Damian added a beat later. Barbara couldn't help but laugh then.

"Okay, okay," she said, grinning widely for the first time since Bruce's death. "As long as you boys know what you're doing. Just be careful. The Joker's still out and about."

"Actually," Jason said, sounding a little sheepish. "The Joker has been taken care of."

"Oh really?" Barbara questioned.

"Yeah," came the reply. "He's hanging upside down from a street lamp across the street from the new apartment building just at the edge of the Narrows."

"I'll send a pickup crew," the red head told them, smiling proudly even though they couldn't see her. "You boys start hunting for Scarecrow. Between you three, Batgirl, and I we'll get this town straightened up in no time."

"You've got it sweetheart," Dick flirted cheerfully and Barbara flushed as red as her hair, rolling her eyes.

"Get to work lover boy," she shot back as Damian made a disgusted noise, already working on opening a line between herself and her father. Gotham City was feeling safer already.

**End Part Two**


	23. Part III, Chapter XXIII

Damian fell asleep with his head resting against Jason's shoulder as the Batmobile headed for the Cave. It had been a long night of patrolling but they had discovered a couple good leads on the whereabouts of Scarecrow. Dick's motorcycle rumbled in to park next to the massive black vehicle as Jason slid out of the driver's seat. "Is he still out?"

"Yeah," Jason confirmed, opening the passenger door and scooping up his baby brother. "Poor kid's exhausted."

"Think there's pajamas in his room?" Dick asked, already heading for the changing rooms.

"Get changed and you can find out," Jason replied since he couldn't shrug without disturbing Damian. He managed to remove the cowl of the Batsuit with one hand and settled down carefully in the rolling chair as Dick vanished from sight. Damian twitched then, whimpering softly. Jason found himself hushing the boy, rubbing gentle circles between his shoulder blades and murmuring to him softly. After a moment Damian murmured, nuzzling his head against his older brother's shoulder before drifting into a more peaceful sleep.

To be completely honest, Jason Todd hadn't really ever wanted siblings. His relationship with Dick had always been rocky at best, mostly because of a combination of Bruce's terrible communication skills, Jason's bad jealousy, and Dick's attitude at the time. Tim had always been the Replacement, the one who'd taken his spot and made Jason feel as if he was disposable. Jason still wasn't sure he liked the kid but he could at least tolerate Tim now. Damian was different. The boy had wormed his way into Jason's heart with his prickly attitude and unusual morals. His silence and absence after Bruce's message had worried the older boy. Furthermore, having Damian by his side as Robin instead of Tim just felt right.

The boy whimpered again, whole body tensing. Jason tried to soothe Damian like he had before but the nightmare had already sank its claws into him. Damian let out a little sob and tried to nestle closer to Jason. " _Aww_ ," Dick cooed at the sight. Jason shot an irritated glare at his older brother but didn't stop trying to calm Damian. "Here," Dick said, holding out his arms to take their baby brother. "You need to get changed before Alfie will let us upstairs."

"Quite right Master Dick." Jason startled at Alfred's voice, Damian letting out a childish whine in the older boy's ear at the unexpected movement and clinging tighter for a moment before relaxing slightly. "Miss Morse dropped off Master Damian's things several hours ago. I have already sorted them and placed them where they belong in his room. I've also taken the liberty of setting out a pair of pajamas for him."

"You're the best Alfie," Dick said, gently easing Damian from Jason's arms. "Go get changed Jay-Jay."

"Only if you promise never to call me that again," Jason replied. Dick grinned, wide and unrepentant, and headed for the stairs.

"Shall I fetch some ice for your jaw Master Jason?" Alfred questioned and when the young man looked over, the old butler's eyes were sparkling. Jason groaned and dropped his head into his hands but he was grinning.

* * *

Before his venture into criminal activity, Doctor Jonathan Crane had been a brilliant and well paid employee of the city of Gotham. Now he was insane but no less clever. He had lain low during the Joker's rampage, not eager to be forced into an alliance with the mad man. Other villains of Gotham Crane would gladly work with but the Joker was far too insane and destructive for the former doctor's taste. Now he was entering a dark apartment building he had marked a long time ago as a potential safe house. It would be his home for the present while his lackeys brewed up the latest batch of fear gas but now, looking into the room, he was beginning to regret the decision. After all, having people know where you were staying was risky but having Deathstroke the Terminator waiting for you when you arrived could be deadly.

Crane hesitated in the doorway, unsure whether it would do him any good to call for help. Deathstroke lounged on a tilted back chair with his feet on the table, a single grey eye fixed on Scarecrow. "Can I help you?" the doctor questioned at last, glad that his voice did not waver. When faced with a person such as Deathstroke he thought it best to show as little of his unease as possible. He reached into his pocket and wrapped his hand around his last canister of fear gas, comforting himself with the knowledge that even infamous mercenaries had fears. He didn't know it but at that exact moment the mercenary in question was smirking at Crane's bravado.

"I need you to do something for me," Slade Wilson said. His voice was the sinister chill that raced up someone's spine when they knew they were about to die. Crane swallowed hard.

"What exactly do you require from me?" Crane demanded, voice wavering slightly.

"I want you to call out the Bat," came the cool reply. "And while he is busy chasing you I can do my job mostly unhindered."

"And why," Crane asked sharply, bristling slightly at the insinuation that he would do as he was told like he was nothing more than a whimpering babe, "would I do that?"

Deathstroke stood then, a single fluid motion that brought to mind large jungle cats silently stalking their already doomed prey. The mercenary loomed over the smaller man, something sinister gleaming in his single eye. Then he leaned down to speak directly in Crane's ear. "Because," he said, voice a low hiss. "You want to live." Jonathan Crane shuddered all over and nodded.

* * *

Dick carried his younger brother upstairs to the correct bedroom and nudged open the door with his foot, glad that Alfred hadn't pulled it completely closed. He carefully slipped Damian into pajamas but when he moved to slide the younger boy under the covers and leave, Damian clung tightly. Dick glanced down and found sleepy green eyes fixed on him. "Stay?" the boy pleaded, flushing a little. Dick smiled and nodded, ruffling the small boy's hair. Damian grumbled but relaxed his grip enough that Dick could slip out of his jeans and get settled on the bed. Then the boy was clinging tightly again, head pressed against Dick's chest. "Want to talk?" Dick asked but Damian's head was already shaking before he finished speaking.

They lay in silence, Damian's body slowly relaxing but his grip never faltering. Dick was reminded of the night they'd received the terrible news that Bruce had been killed and a sick and distraught Damian had clung tightly to him. The sound of Jason stomping down the hall made the small boy flinch and nestle closer. The door opened and Dick tilted his head back so he could see Jason arch his eyebrows. He shrugged slightly in response. Jason shut the door softly and then crossed the room to settle in the chair still resting by the bed. "So what's wrong?" he asked. Damian shook his head again and Jason sighed. "We can't help you if you won't tell us what's wrong."

"Please Dami," Dick added and the boy let out a shuddering sigh.

"The programming cannot be removed," Damian said at last and Dick could feel his hands clenching into fists through the fabric of his shirt. "When M'gann tried she discovered a shut down phrase embedded in my subconscious that tried to eliminate me." Dick sucked in a shocked breath and Jason stiffened.

"Oh Damian," Dick breathed, lifted a hand to stroke it gently through his baby brother's hair. The boy stiffened for a moment before letting out a little sob, tears beginning to dampen Dick's shirt. "It's okay," Dick told him, voice gentle. "Everything's going to be okay." He silently prayed to any higher being that might be listening that he wasn't lying.


	24. Part III, Chapter XXIV

Damian woke to sunlight filtering through the gaps between curtain and window. He felt relaxed for the first time in a long time, all cuddled up with his head resting against Dick's chest. Jason was snoring softly in the chair, his neck tilted at what appeared to be an uncomfortable angle but otherwise the only sound in the room was soft breathing. He laid there for a moment, savoring the peace he hadn't felt since long before Talia had come to rouse him late at night. He knew once he got up it would be a long time before things were peaceful again. Keeping that in mind, the boy considered simply settling himself more comfortably and drifting off to sleep. That was when a cell phone trilled from somewhere on the floor. The ringtone was an annoyingly catchy theme song Damian thought was off some cheesy live action Batman cartoon an author in Gotham had written while Dick was still a kid.

"Shut it off," Jason moaned petulantly, not opening his eyes even as he squirmed around in the chair uncomfortably. Dick mumbled something incoherent in response and buried his head under a pillow instead of searching for the phone. Damian glanced between the two of them for a moment, waiting for any sign of action on their parts, and then groaned.

"The pair of you are insufferable," he muttered and slid out of the warm bed, shivering when his bare feet reached the wood beyond the rug. He shuffled his way sleepily around the bed to yank the offending object out of his older brother's abandoned blue jeans. It took him less than a minute to crack Dick's code and then he was answering the phone a moment before it went to voicemail.

"Richard Grayson you had best have a good reason for hacking into my computers and setting off alarms at just after eight in the morning," Barbara Gordon's voice snarled at him over the phone.

"Whatever are you talking about Gordon?" Damian demanded bluntly, not awake enough to even attempt tact. In the stunned silence that followed Dick was suddenly wide awake and scrambling for the phone.

"Nice job," Jason said with a smirk while Dick scrambled out of the room, mumbling apologies to Barbara the entire time in an increasingly frantic tone.

"What?" Damian inquired innocently and snuggled back under the covers with the sinking feeling that his only chance to go back to bed had been ruined. His suspicions were confirmed a moment later when Dick came back into the room, pale as milk.

"We've got a problem," he said. Suddenly Jason was looking wide awake, jumping to his feet and then wincing as his body protested the sudden movement. Damian smoothly slid out from beneath his covers, shivering slightly at the loss of warmth. "Someone hacked into Babs's system and set off the alarms. She thought it was me because she traced it back to my personal laptop." He hesitated and then added, "The one I left in Bludhaven." Jason stared at their older brother as if trying to understand what was going on. Damian frowned.

"Can't she trace it back?"

"She's trying," Dick replied, rubbing the back of his neck for a moment and looking down at the floor. "I'm going to head down to the Cave and see if I can get help. The two of you should probably eat some breakfast and then figure out each other's fighting techniques or something." Then their oldest brother turned and walked out of the room.

"Is he _serious_?" Jason asked after a moment, dark eyebrows arching up toward the white fringe flopping across his forehead.

"I believe so," Damian said after a moment of consideration. Jason growled, irritated, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Someone _besides him_ hacked Barbara's super secret all-powerful Oracle network and we're just supposed to sit around twiddling our thumbs and pretending we aren't perfectly capable of working together after last night."

"I don't think," Damian said, holding up Dick's phone so Jason could see. "That it matters what he wants us to do."

A wide grin spread across the older boy's face as he reached over to ruffle Damian's hair, ignoring the younger boy's retaliating smack. "Did I ever tell you that you're my favorite?"

* * *

Jade Nguyen was cruising through Gotham at just after eight in the morning. She'd wanted to arrive sooner by Melinda, royal pain in Jade's butt, had gotten sick and no one else had been able to cover for her. And Jade really needed to keep that job. She'd called Roy, apologized, and promised to come as soon as possible but the delay still irked her. Now her eyes felt like sand from driving since midnight but she was in Gotham. The GPS voice on her phone, the one Artemis nicknamed Carol, instructed her to turn left. Jade did and watched as massive gates seemed to rise up to meet her. Beyond that was Wayne Manor, a dark shadow looming over a pristine lawn.

She stopped the car several feet away from the gates, put it in park, and reached for her phone. A swift movement unlocked it and she dialed Roy's number. He picked up after the second ring with a slurred yeah that sounded half awake. "Good morning," she told him, a fond smile crossing her face.

"Jade?" Roy suddenly sounded much more awake and her smile widened.

"Yeah, it's me." She paused a moment for that to sink in, then added, "I'm here."

"I'll get Alfred to open the gate and let you in," Roy told her and she heard the scuffle of movement.

"I'll see you soon," she told him and hung up as the gates groaned open. She drove through and parked in front of the front doors, stepping smoothly out of the car. Roy met her at the door, hair still tousled from sleep. Jade hugged him tightly and he buried his head in her dark hair. "I've missed you," she whispered into his chest.

"I missed you too." They separated after a moment and Roy guided him into the Manor. "Ollie's still sleeping," he told her as he held the door open for her. "Dick is awake and in the Cave trying to work some problem out with Barbara. He said Jason and Damian were awake but I haven't seen them yet."

"I can fix that." Jason's voice echoed off the high ceiling of the room as he descended from the massive staircase, light circling around his head like a halo. The irony was not lost on Jade. Behind Jason was a small boy with dark hair and wary green eyes. His entire posture said he was ready for something terrible to happen and Jade recognized the fluid way he moved from her time as one of the League of Shadows. Jade focused her eyes on the boy's and she smiled gently.

"Hello," she said, remaining completely still so as not to startle him. "My name is Jade Nguyen." Roy wrapped his arm around her waist and the boy's eyes tracked the motion before assessing the newcomer. Through all the scrutiny Jade did not twitch. At last the boy relaxed, giving her a slight nod in acknowledgement. Jade's smile widened and Jason reached over to ruffle the boy's hair. That earned him a grumble and a swat that wasn't nearly as hard as it could have been.

"This is Damian," Jason informed her, wrapping an arm around the boy's neck in a playful headlock that had Damian scowling up at him, irritated. "My baby brother. Dami-"

"Don't _call me_ that," Damian interrupted and Jason rolled his eyes.

"Fine, Demon bird, Jade is Roy's fiance. I'm assuming she's here to help Arrow boy break the news to Oliver Queen."

"Must you persist with the ridiculous nicknames?" Damian protested, seeming not to care why Jade was in the manor.

"You let Dickiebird use nicknames."

"Grayson is different," came the crisp reply. The boy finally had grown tired of the headlock and rammed an elbow into Jason's side with an irritated frown on his face. Jason twitched a little but otherwise ignored Damian's escape attempt, instead tugging the boy down the stairs.

"Whatever. Come kiddo, breakfast first and then we'll stick our noses into Dick's super secret business." He head for the kitchen, Damian still pinned at his side. The pair were almost into the next room when Jason called over his shoulder, "Good luck with Oliver."

"Thanks a lot," Roy muttered even though Jason probably could hear him.

"Everything will be fine," Jade told him, leaning into his side. "Now where can a girl get a nap before we have an intense conversation with your mentor?" She was pleased to see some of the worry fading from Roy's eyes.

"I think I know just the place."

* * *

Timothy Drake was having trouble sitting still. Normally on long plane rides he would either work on cases or read whatever novel he was working his way through for school or pleasure. Today's plane ride was different. He couldn't focus on _Crime and Punishment_ , his version of reading for pleasure. Instead his mind swam in circles, consumed by the knowledge that someone in the Justice League had kept the knowledge that Bruce was alive from his children. Someone had left them to mourn and struggle on, knowing the whole time that Bruce was alive. Tim had never really hated someone before and the feeling was something bitter churning in his stomach.

"Do you need something?" a brunette haired hostess asked him as she walked by with a trash bag.

"No thank you," Tim replied, managing a weak smile for her. She smiled back and moved on, leaving Tim to squirm a little in his seat. For the first time ever he found himself regretting not allowing Dick to sneak a couple movies on to his tablet. At least they would have passed the time. He turned back to his book but the words turned the nonsense in front of his eyes. He snapped the book shut in frustration and glanced at his neighbor who was sleeping soundly. He wished he could do the same but he doubted he would be able to sleep. Worse yet, if he did manage to drift off into dreamland he'd probably only become trapped in a series of horrifying nightmares. Those nightmares were one of the main reasons Tim often avoided sleeping.

His lips twitched silently as he acknowledged the fact that he was disobeying Bruce's orders. Granted, the order to sleep had been given a little over two weeks ago but Tim was still disobeying. Instead of resting he was hyped up on coffee, excitement, and fury. For the first time he was beginning to understand how Jason had felt when he'd come back to Gotham only to discover that the Joker was still alive and there was another Robin. The betrayal was a constant stinging to Tim and he wasn't even all that close to most the members of the Justice League. Dick would be devastated by the news. Sure Tim's older brother would be glad Bruce wasn't dead but the knowledge that the League had purposefully withheld information from them, and not at Bruce's request, would be an open wound. Jason would be furious if for no other reason then because the news would hurt Damian. Tim's homecoming would not be the happy affair he'd been hoping for when he'd first set out to prove Bruce was still alive. Instead it would be more like a waking nightmare.


	25. Part III, Chapter XXV

Jade managed to get a few hours of peaceful sleep before Roy gently shook her awake. "Wha-" An enormous yawn cut her off and Roy grinned at her, waiting for her to be able to finish. "What time is it?"

"A quarter til one," he told her. "I figured I'd better wake you before you missed lunch entirely."

"A wise idea," she replied, rolling off the bed and smoothing her hair. "How do I look?"

"Beautiful, as always," Roy told her, leaning down to kiss her. They pulled apart as someone cleared their throat in the doorway.

Pennyworth sent me to make sure the pair of you are actually coming down," Damian said, giving both of them an irritated glare.

"Yes we're coming," Roy replied, sounding exasperated. "Don't get your boxers in a bunch."

"That was unnecessarily crude Harper," Damian replied, managing to sound like a disapproving grandfather despite the fact that he was only ten. Jade managed to hold in her giggles until Damian was gone.

"Annoying little brat," Roy muttered and Jade's giggles turned into laughter. "What?"

"I think he's adorable," she informed her boyfriend. "Now let's go before Alfred himself decides to come upstairs." Roy nodded and arm in arm they made their way down the stairs. They had arrived at the bottom step when Oliver Queen walked around the corner. Both Oliver and Roy froze instantly. Jade adjusted her hand so her fingers were intertwined with Roy's and squeezed gently to reassure him that she wasn't going anywhere. Then she politely waited to be introduced.

It took a gentle elbow to the ribcage before Roy managed to shake off his shock. "Jade, this is Oliver. Ollie, this is Jade Nguyen."

"A pleasure," Oliver Queen said, lightly kissing the back of her hand when she offered it to him. His eyes studied her carefully, as if trying to understand what she was doing in Wayne Manor. Then he turned a questioning gaze to Roy whose grip tightened on Jade's hand.

Roy swallowed hard and then said, "Jade is my girlfriend."

"And she knows about your night job?" Queen questioned immediately.

"Of course," Jade cut in, fixing her eyes firmly on his. "I was in a similar business until recently." She gestured her free hand to her large stomach and Queen nodded once in acknowledgement. She hesitated a moment, glancing over at Roy who considered the situation and then nodded. "Before I arrived at my present state, I was known as Cheshire." She watched silently as recognition flared in Oliver Queen's eyes.

"An _assassin_ , Roy?" Queen demanded. "Really?" Jade felt Roy flinch a little, obviously hurt, and anger began to coil in her chest. "You've never been the best judge of women but this is beyond anything I could ever imagine."

"As if you have room to talk," Roy snapped, his grip almost painfully tight on Jade's hand. "First there was Dinah Laurel Lance, who you cheated on with _her sister_ and then there's Felicity who has obviously been in love with you forever but who you've never given the time of day. Face it Ollie, your love life is a mess."

"Maybe I'm trying to prevent you from making the same mistakes as I did," Oliver shot back and muscles in Roy's jaw went tight.

"What gives you the right to decide who I love?" he demanded. "Jade is the woman I'm going to marry and if you can't accept that then you can get out of my life." Jade pressed her hand gently against Roy's arm, muscles tight with fury, as the pair of them walked by a silent Oliver Queen and into the kitchen.

* * *

When Tim arrived in Gotham the city was in chaos. The sun had set a few hours ago and as soon as he stepped out of the airport he could hear the screaming from the nearby Narrows. That most likely meant that Scarecrow was on the loose. Instantly Tim's exhaustion was pushed aside as he scrambled for his phone, abandoning the idea of taking a cab to the manor. He'd arrange for safer transport. Tim dialed the number for the manor without even glancing down at his fingers and held the phone to his ear, listening for any signs of incoming danger. He was so focused on the world around him that Alfred had to ask who was calling twice before he responded.

"It's Tim," he said. "I've just arrived back in Gotham. I was going to call a cab but..." He let his voice trail off as a particularly ear piercing shriek rang out into the night.

"I suspect calling for more secure transport was the best decision Master Tim," Alfred informed him. "Master Jason and Master Damian are out patrolling with Miss Stephanie but I will fetch Master Dick and send him to collect you."

"Thank you Alfred," Tim said.

"It is no trouble Master Tim," Alfred replied and hung up. Tim tucked his phone away and then sank into the shadows, keeping an eye out for trouble. The last thing he wanted to do was to get into a fight with Gotham henchmen before he got to deliver his news.

Dick pulled up on a motorcycle fifteen minutes later. The screams had steadily grown closer and closer, Tim growing tenser as he waited, and the young man practically sprang out of the shadows, accepting his older brother's hug without hesitation. "Is everything okay?" Dick asked against Tim's hair.

"Yes," Tim answered, the word almost a sob against Dick's shoulder. "Well yes and no."

Dick pulled back a little, studying Tim intensely. Despite the fact that he could, often enough, lie to Bruce he found himself fighting the urge to squirm under the intense gaze. "Let's go back to the Cave," the older boy said at last. "We'll talk there."

"Okay," Tim replied and followed his brother to the motorcycle.

* * *

"Hurry up Demon bird," Stephanie Brown called, swinging from one rooftop to the next. The wind whipped around her ears, sending her blonde hair smacking against her cheeks. Behind her, Damian Wayne in on of Dick Grayson's old Robin uniforms glided through the night to join her.

"This is not a race," Jason snapped at them from across the street on top of another roof.

"That's what you think," Stephanie replied with a cheeky smile. Despite the screams of terrified Gotham citizens below, Stephanie felt alive. She loved patrolling. Being Batgirl was one of the best parts of her life and ever since Cass had handed over the mantle she had felt as if she had finally found a place where she belonged. As a child, Stephanie had known she didn't fit in with the other children around her. Her father was a minor villain in Batman's rogues gallery and her mother was a footnote in the story of her life. The other children alienated her and until she had become part of the Batclan she had never really felt free to be herself. Now her life was different, better really, all because of a now dead man who had decided to protect a city while wearing a suit that made him look almost like a giant bat.

The blonde was shaken out of her thoughts when Damian stiffened beside her. The small boy had tensed almost to the breaking point, his eyes fixed on the darkness behind him. "Robin?" she questioned gently, knowing since they were keeping their comms on at all times that Jason would hear here. "What's wrong?" The boy was shaking slightly and Stephanie was sure that his eyes where wide behind the white lenses of his mask.

"I think..." the boy said, voice trailing off as he shivered violently. "I think I just saw..." He turned to look at her, lips trembling, as Jason swung across the empty space between their buildings so he could loom up behind the boy and place a steadying hand on his shoulder.

"I believe we should head back to the Cave," Jason told them, his voice steady and cold.

"Okay," Damian said, his voice more frightened and behavior more docile than the blonde had ever seen. It was that, more than any other factor, that had her following Jason and Damian through the quiet streets of Gotham towards the safety of the Cave.


	26. Part III, Chapter XXVI

"What do you mean he's _here_?" Damian's voice snapped through the empty space in the Cave, making the bats that lived in it flutter their wings restlessly. It was the first thing Tim heard the moment Dick shut off the motorcycle.

"Dick said he saw him not long after you'd left for Hong Kong and that he was looking for you. I thought he'd be chasing after you there and the last thing you needed was for one more aspect of your past to worry about," Jason replied, his voice full of forced calm. Tim climbed off the motorcycle and hurried towards the disruption, Dick right on his heels.

"You weren't going to _tell me?"_ Damian all but screamed and Tim was close enough to see tears dripping down the boy's cheeks.

"I forgot," Jason snapped back and the boy flinched a little. "Look, Damian," the older boy continued, his voice suddenly soft. "Dick and I weren't trying to hurt you. We just didn't think-"

"Well that much is obvious," the boy scoffed derisively. "What am I to you? Just some cheap copy? Maybe another responsibility Bruce left you with since he's dead?" Jason flinched a little and when Tim glanced over at Dick he saw wide, hurt blue eyes. They were, Tim decided after a moment, so busy being hurt and defensive that they hadn't quite comprehended the damage the whole situation was doing to Damian.

"Dami," their oldest brother tried.

"Don't call me that," Damian snarled at him. "I don't want to talk to any of you." Then he turned and stormed up the stairs toward the manor. Tim watched for a moment as Dick and Jason exchanged helpless looks, then turned to follow Damian. He caught up to the boy just outside Damian's room and reached out to touch him, only to hesitate. What was he even doing? Tim had important news and Damian didn't even like him. It would probably better to let Dick and Jason sort out this whole mess in the morning. He was about to turn and leave when Damian's cracked and worn voice asked, "What do you want?" There was no emotion in his tone, which should have been calming considering that emotionless general seemed to be his natural state of being, but after realizing how much emotion was really there it was worrisome.

"Look," he said after a moment. "I can't even begin to comprehend what's going on right now, or even what that argument was about, but I'm not blind. Something's wrong. And maybe we haven't gotten along in the past but you're my brother."

"Am I?" Damian challenged, voice bitter. "I know they have not told you the truth yet but claiming we are siblings is stretching our relationship past the breaking point."

"Maybe," Tim agreed. "But that doesn't mean I can't decide to try."

Damian hesitated and for a moment the older boy thought he'd gotten through to the younger. Then Damian's shoulder's tightened. "You shouldn't," the boy told him, voice sharp. "I'm not a real person." Then he stepped into his bedroom and shut the door in Tim's face. For a moment the older boy could only stand there, stunned. Then he turned on his heel and headed back towards the Cave. Dick and Jason had some serious explaining to do.

* * *

"What happened?" Dick demanded the instant Tim was gone. His muscles were coiled tight with anger and worry, his mind buzzing with the knowledge that something had gone wrong while Jason, Damian, and Stephanie had been on patrol.

"He thought he saw Wilson," Jason replied, running a hand through his hair and letting out a tired sigh. "He didn't say so until he'd already changed and when I let it slip that Deathstroke really was in Gotham and he realized we hadn't told him, he was pretty ticked off." The new Batman hesitated a moment and then added, "And he has a right to be."

"We should have told him," Dick agreed ruefully. "But he was already upset enough about the programming and telling him then would have made it so much worse."

"Telling him what?" Tim's voice demanded. They both turned, startled, as their younger brother descended into the cave. "I want to know what exactly is going on."

"Tim," Jason said, irritation. "Now is not exactly the time-"

" _No_ ," Tim interrupted, voice surprisingly dark. "I think now is the time because my little brother is upstairs hurting and doesn't think he's a person and I don't know why." His voice was shaking by the end of the rant and his eyes were wide with fury and pain.

"Tim this is really not-"

"Okay," Dick interrupted, letting out a shaking breath. "Okay. I'll explain everything. Let's just..." He trailed off for a moment. "Let's just calm down, okay?"

"Okay," Tim agreed, sitting down on one of the stairs. "I'm listening."

* * *

The boy had seen him. That hadn't part of Slade's plan for the night but it hindered nothing. In fact, most likely it assisted him. The boy would be scared and upset. Any precautions he would have taken ordinarily would be thrown aside in vain attempts to track down Slade. With Jonathan Crane added to the mix, what remained of Bruce Wayne's self made crime fighting family would crumble under the weight, leaving Slade free to take what was rightfully his. After all, he'd spent far too many hours training that kid just to have him working on the wrong side.

"Everything went well then?" William Wintergreen appearing almost out of thin air, holding a steaming cup of tea.

"As well as can be expected this early on," Slade replied, carefully taking the cup. He was careful not to drop it. Will had been known to give him hell when he spilled a good cup of tea.

"Shall I assume that you are going out again tomorrow?" Wintergreen continued.

"Yes," Slade agreed amicably. "In fact, you should assume I will be going out every night until this business is finished."

"Very well," came the somewhat disapproving answer but Wintergreen vanished before Slade could ask his old friend what exactly was bothering him. He stared in the direction Wintergreen had vanished for a moment and then shook his head. He was in the middle of a plan right now. When he completed his goal then he would turn his attention to whatever was bothering his friend.

* * *

Barbara Gordon was just closing up shop for the night, Stephanie changing out of her Batgirl garb, when Tim appeared in the corner of her computer screen. His face was tired and worried, neither of which was an emotion the red head could ignore in someone who was practically her family. "What's wrong?" she asked immediately, pushing her glasses up on her nose.

"Damian is- I mean I don't-..." He hesitated, pulled in a deep breath, and tried again. "Dick just told me about Damian."

"It must have been quite a shock," Barbara said and Tim nodded. The red head hesitated a moment and then asked, "What happened?"

"Apparently Deathstroke is in Gotham looking for Damian," Tim told her and Barbara nodded. She had known that already. Tim must have read that in her expression because he added, "And nobody bothered to tell our baby brother." Barbara's mouth formed a shocked o.

"They didn't," she breathed grimly and Tim nodded.

"They did," he confirmed.

"Upstairs or downstairs?" she demanded and Tim winced a little.

"I'm not sure I should-"

" _Upstairs or downstairs?_ "

"Upstairs," Tim said, gulping. Barbara nodded and closed the window. "Sorry Steph," she called to the blonde who had just emerged in street clothes. "But you're going to have to wait a few more minutes."


	27. Part III, Chapter XXVII

Dick Grayson answered his phone with trepidation, knowing what was coming. "Yeah?" he said and then flinched at the sheer volume of Barbara's voice.

_"Richard Grayson what were you thinking,_ " the red head snarled over the phone. "Oh wait, _you weren't_."

"Babs, I can explain," Dick protested as he heard her suck in a deep breath.

"Don't even try," Barbara snapped. "How could you do that to Damian? How dare you let him thing he's anything less than human?"

" _Barbara_ ," he pleaded.

"Don't Barbara me! You have until morning to make things right with Damian. Stephanie is coming over to the house to check on him at ten thirty in the morning and if he's still upset, she's bringing him to me. _Have I made myself clear?"_

"Yes," Dick said meekly, silently praying that she was finished.

"Good," came the cool reply. "Now hand the phone over to Jason. I need to talk to him." Dick practically shoved the phone into his brother's hand. Jason looked as if he'd just been given a live grenade as he lifted the phone to his ear. Dick definitely sympathized. He also understood why she was so ticked off. Dick had done the inexcusable. He'd always been angry when Bruce hadn't told him something important and yet he'd done the exact same thing to Damian. He and Jason's decision to keep Deathstroke's presence in Gotham a secret had put the boy in danger. It also might have destroyed Damian's trust in them.

"We screwed up Gordon," Jason was saying in a level tone to Barbara. "We know this. Now if you would stop shouting at us we would actually be able to try and fix our mistake." Dick felt his eyes widen as they fixed on his brother. Jason was treading on dangerous territory. When Barbara was very angry trying to stop her in mid rant was a terrible idea. It was also exactly what Jason had just done. "Yeah, yeah. I understand the ultimatum," the younger man added after a moment. Then he hung up and handed the phone back to Dick saying, "Your girlfriend can really yell."

"She's not-We're not-Oh just forget it," Dick said, exasperated. "We have a problem to fix before she decides that threatening us what her version of the custody battle of a century is too mild a solution." Jason shrugged, already heading for the stairs.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Technically she's not mine either. She broke up with me about a, oh you know what? Just forget it." He scrambled up the stairs after Jason, trying to decide whether or not it would be worth it to kill his brother.

* * *

Damian was shivering all over as if he was sick. His head pounded along with his heartbeat and Deathstroke was whispering to him, reminding that he was worthless. That he was just a clone to be thrown aside. Easily replaceable. The first raindrops from the thick clouds that had been threatening Gotham all evening slammed into the windows, making him flinch. The windows rattled with a strong gust of wind that made the raindrops sound more like bullets than water. He jumped and backed away from the window for a moment before forcefully stilling himself.

"Damian?" Dick's voice made him flinch again and whirl around to face his bedroom door. Anger twisted with fear in his gut, trying to close his throat. There was a moment of awkward silence and then his oldest brother said, "We understand if you don't want to talk to us but Jason and I want to apologize. It was wrong of us not to tell you that Deathstroke was in Gotham, regardless of what our reasons were." Damian was startled to realize that tears were dripping down his cheeks as he registered the fact that maybe they really did want him around. That maybe he'd been wrong.

"We weren't trying to hurt you," Jason added. "We're just idiots sometimes. And I'd claim it was genetics but neither one of us is actually related to Bruce." The boy hesitated for a moment then crossed the room to hesitantly open the door.

"You forget," he said softly. "Neither am I."

"And you think that matters?" Jason demanded, rolling his eyes. "Face it kid, none of us are related by blood but we're all family. You're stuck with us."

"Unless Jason decides he's not talking to us all again," Dick jabbed and Jason rammed him in the side with an elbow.

"That was once."

"It was one time too many." Damian glanced between the two of them and found himself laughing helplessly. Both of them looked at him as if they were wondering whether or not he had gone mad. It was only then that the boy realized he was crying.

"Dami?" Dick questioned, his voice worried.

"I-I just-" Damian cut himself off and shuddered all over, not protesting when Dick pulled him close. "I don't even know who I am anymore," he whimpered.

"It's okay," Dick reassured him in a soft whisper. "We'll figure it out."

* * *

Tim was not sitting in the Cave alone twiddling his thumbs. He was alone but he was busy preparing his explanation of how Bruce was really alive. Further research had shown that the beam that was supposed to have killed Bruce was simply light. It had been smoke and mirrors to fool people into truly believed that Batman had been obliterated. It was good to know that he'd been right, regardless of the fact that their family had been betrayed by people they trusted. Task completed, her turned his attention to the recordings, debating on whether or not he wanted to hear another of Bruce's recordings. That was when he noticed the new one. It had been posted just ten minutes ago and it was addressed to all of them. Tim hesitated a moment and then clicked on it.

When the recording started Tim was startled by how Bruce looked. The man was battered, bruised, and cut. His face was pale and the dark circles under his eyes were deeper than they'd ever been before. "Dick, Tim, Damian, Jason," Bruce said, voice rough with exhaustion. "I hope dearly that this manages to reach you. I've been betrayed. Someone in this organization has discovered who I am. My cover has been blown which means I won't be able to contact you or a while." He hesitated a moment and then added, "If I don't survive this then I want you all to know that I love you." Then the recording went black. For a moment Tim could only stare in fear and horror at the screen. Then he scrambled to his feet and ran for the stairs.


	28. Part III, Chapter XXVIII

Roy and Jade were sitting curled up on the couch when Tim came thundering down the hall yelling for his brothers. "What's going on?" Jade called, climbing clumsily to her feet. Roy steadied her and Tim paused by the door. "Bruce is in trouble," he babbled.

" _What?_ " Jade and Roy demanded, shocked.

" _Bruce is in trouble_ ," Tim called, already running for the stairs.

"Tim!" Roy yelled back. "Bruce is dead!" Oliver, who had been in the kitchen sulking and nursing his wounds from their earlier argument, emerged looking startled.

"What is going on?" Jade asked, brown eyes wide as she studied the empty hall.

"I honestly have no idea," was the only thing Roy could say in reply.

"Did Tim just say Bruce was in trouble?" Oliver's question startled both of them. They turned to look at him but his eyes were fixed on the stairwell.

"Yes," Roy answered after a moment and then jumped when his former mentor swore. "What?" Oliver didn't answer, turning towards the kitchen again, his expression dark. "Oliver what is it? What's going on?" He glanced at Jade and she nudged him forward so he followed the man into the kitchen. "Oliver please talk to me."

"There was a signal," Oliver told him, voice rough with suppressed emotion. "Not long before Bruce was killed. The League wanted to inspect it but Bruce advised caution."

"You are saying that the League faked Batman's death," Roy said, leaning heavily against the kitchen counter. "And that they let his children believe he was dead all this time?"

"Yes. No. _I don't know_ ," Oliver said, putting his head in his hands. "I don't know what to think anymore."

"I believe," Alfred's voice announced from the doorway. "That now would be a good time for some tea."

* * *

Damian was curled up on his bed, head resting against Dick's shoulder, while the older boys talked over his head, throwing out ideas of how to draw out Deathstroke. They ranged from the ridiculous to the practical but none of them would work. Slade Wilson was only going to come out for one reason and that would be to capture Damian. To take back what he considered was his. Still he didn't interrupt them. He was going to enjoy what might be one of his last moments with his brothers because he was going to face Deathstroke. He was going to take care of this problem once and for all. That was when Tim came thundering up the stairs and threw open the door.

"Bruce is in trouble," he said, eyes wide with a mixture of fear and excitement.

"Replacement, I'm not sure you've noticed but Bruce is dead," Jason said, eyebrows rising toward his white fringe.

"No he's not," Tim replied. "It was all a lie. I hacked the Watchtower and found an encrypted file. Bruce has been alive the whole time and the Justice League hid it from us. He's been sending us messages and the League has hid them all. I found them and that's why I came back to Gotham."

"That's what you were trying to hack?" Damian demanded.

"Exactly," Tim said. "I was going to tell you when you arrived but then Dick and Jason lied to you and it wasn't the time."

"And it's okay now?" Jason demanded.

"Because Bruce just sent a new message. His cover has been blown." Tim's eyes fixed on them all. "And he's going to need our help."

The three of them exchanged wide eyed looks as they absorbed what their brother had just told them. Then Dick said, "Show us." Tim nodded and turned away, heading for the stairs. Dick, Damian, and Jason scrambled to their feet to follow him. They thundered past Jade, who was standing in the hallway, bemused and down the secret staircase into the Cave. The black screen for the video was still up. All Tim had to do was replay it. He had already seen the video so instead he watched the mixture of joy and terror on his siblings' faces as they saw for themselves that Bruce really was alive. When the message cut off the room was completely silent, as if they were all holding their breath. Then Dick let out a watery laugh. "He's alive. He's _alive!_ "

"As of fifteen minutes ago, yeah," Jason agreed.

"Oh stop raining on my parade," Dick said, smacking Jason on the shoulder. "Let me enjoy it. Just for a moment."

"Okay," was the obliging reply. There was a long minute of awkward silence and then, "Moment's over. Now can we come up with a game plan before whatever organization he's infiltrating kills him."

"We need a plan for Gotham too," Tim cut in. "Batman can't just disappear. Especially not with Scarecrow on the loose."

"And Deathstroke," Damian added, voice dark.

"Okay," Dick said, pressed his head into his hand for a moment before straightening. "Let's go upstairs and get some rest. We'll plan in the morning."

"How do we even know he'll still be alive in the morning?" Tim questioned, baby blue eyes worried.

"Because," Dick answered with a wry grin. "He's Batman."

* * *

Roy and Oliver found themselves sitting back in the living room with Jade watching them from the doorway. None of them were talking and the silence was growing uncomfortable. Jade surveyed them both for a long minute, rolled her eyes, and then snapped, "You two are ridiculous. It's like sitting in a room with a bunch of middle school girls. Just man up and talk it out." Oliver startled and Roy started laughing. Jade grinned at him, sauntering over to lean down and kiss his cheek. "I'm going to bed. You can join me when you're finished." Then she turned on her heel and silently exited the room.

"Quite a girl you've got there," Oliver said after a moment and Roy snorted.

"You're telling me. First time we met she was trying to kill me. Almost did too." Oliver arched an eyebrow and Roy shrugged. "Didn't you tell me once that there was always someone who was going to be better than you?"

"Probably," Oliver agreed. "I was probably also annoyed because I'd done something stupid around you and almost gotten both of us killed."

"Most likely."

There was another awkward pause and then Oliver sighed. "Look, I'm an idiot sometimes and I was wrong to say what I did."

"I was wrong too," Roy admitted. "I shouldn't have brought Felicity into it. Especially when she's not around to defend herself. So..." He hesitated a moment and then asked, "Truce?"

"Truce," Oliver agreed with a wry grin. Roy felt some of the weight lift of his shoulders and he stood, bidding Oliver good night before heading for the stairs.

"So you worked everything out?" Jade asked when he opened the door.

"Yeah," Roy said, gently shutting the door behind him and then leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. "We did."

"Good. Now get some rest. I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a crazy day."

* * *

Barbara Gordon couldn't sleep. This wasn't unusual considering her night job but normally she didn't feel so worn thin. Since Bruce's death, the red head had been working what would, in a normal job, been considered overtime. She'd been hacking every camera she could get her figurative hands on, running communication for the boys so they had one less thing to worry about while Jason adjusted to being Batman, trying to spend time with her father, and worry kept her up most nights. She'd thought she could handle it all but she had just been reminded that she couldn't. It had to do with the argument she'd had with Dick and Jason. Well, actually it hadn't been much of an argument, more like her yelling at them. At the time she'd thought it was justified, despite Steph's wide eyes at the end of the whole debacle.

The two of them had put Damian in danger, and yes she knew they were trying to protect him but Bruce had done the same thing to the youngest Wayne. Actually he'd done it to each one of them and they'd all hated him at one point or another because of it. That Jason and Dick had dared to do that to the boy, especially after the many times she'd heard Dick insist he didn't want to be like Batman, had galled her in a way that nothing else had. In retrospect, between her exhaustion and irritation she had gone of the deep end on him. Sure, he had needed to be set straight but she hadn't had to _yell_ at him. She sighed and ran a hand through her messy red hair and decided she probably wasn't going to get any more sleep that night.

Leaning over to the bedside table, she grabbed her phone and dialed the number she knew by heart. It rang or what felt like forever and then the voicemail picked up. "Hey," Dick's cheerfully voice announced. "You've arrived at the voicemail of Dick Grayson. Go ahead and leave me a message so I can get back to you as soon as I can find my phone." Then there was a pause and then an electronic beep. Barbara took a deep breath and then ran a hand through her hair before beginning.

"Hey Dick, and Jason since I don't really have his number and this is or him too, it's me. Look, I was too harsh on you earlier and I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled and I shouldn't have gone off the deep end." She hesitated a moment and then added, "And Steph isn't coming in the morning. That was a ridiculous and empty threat. And also an immature one. I'm sorry." She hung up before she could ramble on and possibly ruin the apology. Then she placed her phone back on the bedside table and closed her eyes, determined at get at least a little sleep.


	29. Part III, Chapter XXIX

Stephanie Brown stepped into Wayne Manor the next morning expecting a war zone. She had come at Tim's behest, the request sent to her via text message at just after three in the morning, and he hadn't answered any of her calls. Therefore she had believed it reasonable to expected screaming and chaos. Instead she found the Wayne siblings sitting together eating breakfast. Furthermore, there were butter knives at the table and Damian wasn't trying to stab anyone. She absorbed the scene for a moment, then promptly turned around and walked out of the room. She stood in the hall for a moment before coming back only to see all four of them staring at the door.

"Hi?" Tim asked tentatively, waving at her a little.

"Who are you and what have you done with my loveable idiots?" she demanded in response.

"Steph,what are you talking about?"

"There are butter knives at the table. _Butter knives_ ," Steph pressed.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," Damian commented and she scowled at him.

"And you aren't even arguing with each other," the blonde continued. "What's going on?"

"Steph," Tim said, eyes sparkling. "I was right. Bruce is alive and I have proof."

For a moment all Stephanie could do was stare. She knew Tim well enough to believe that he had some sort of conclusive proof but that was a lot of information to take in all at once. "He's alive?" she questioned at last. Tim nodded, his expression a little worried. Apparently Steph looked like she was going into shock or something. She watched as Dick and Jason exchanged a worried look, stunned silence giving way to boiling anger. "Bruce was alive and he _let us think he was dead!_ "

"No!" Tim scrambled to his feet, reaching out towards Steph as if he wanted to touch. She jerked away, not sure if she was angry at him for telling her the truth or really just furious at Bruce and her boyfriend was just a convenient target. "He didn't let us think he was dead," Tim continued, voice calmer but eyes pleading with her to listen for a moment. "He's been sending us messages and at least one person in the League has been hiding them from us."

Steph's fury almost immediately redirected itself and her hands clenched into fists. _How dare they_? For most of the people present, Bruce was the only family they had left and the League had just tossed that aside like it was a toy they were finished with. How could they live with themselves? Part of her insisted that she wanted them all dead but the logical part of her brain pointed out that the world needed the Justice League. That meant she and her patchwork family would have to get their revenge in a non-lethal way. "So what are we going to do about it?" the blonde demanded, settling her hands on her hips.

"Nothing yet," Dick replied, lifting a hand to forestall her complaints. "First we have to take care of Deathstroke. If we're to leave Gotham and rescue Bruce from the situation he's gotten himself into then Slade Wilson must be out of our city and locked somewhere secure. Then we have to discover what members of the League deceived us. From there, after we've rescued Bruce, we can take our revenge." His lips quirked up in a slight smile and he added, "Can you wait that long?"

Steph considered the question honestly, considering whether revenge taken early would be worth it if it put her family together. The answer to that was blonde was not one to simply stand by while people she cared about were in terrible danger. It was one of the things that had led her to thwart her father at every turn and one that pushed her to continue using the mantle of Batgirl, gifted to her by Cass, despite the danger. "I can wait," she told him. "But I don't want to have to hold back when the time comes."

"I don't think there are going to be any protests about that," Jason replied, expression dark. From her few experiences with the Red Hood, Steph had come to realize that Jason really didn't appreciate being manipulated. The blonde doubted he was any happier than she was about the current situation.

"Now that we have thoroughly discussed the matter of retribution can we perhaps move on to more pressing matters?" Damian questioned, twirling his butter knife between his fingers.

"Are you actually capable of talking without sounding like you swallowed a dictionary?" Steph retorted, sinking down in a chair next to Bruce's only blood son and ruffling his hair. He batted at her a little but the usual sharpness of his movements had faded away.

"I sincerely doubt that I am able," Damian replied smoothly, slouching a little in his chair. "If you must blame someone for it, you may blame Mother."

"I'll remember that when I see her again," the blonde drawled before turning to look at Dick and Jason. "So do we have a plan for dealing with Deathstroke the Terminator? And where did your house guests go?"

"They're still sleeping," Dick told her. "Oliver and Roy had an argument last night so they were up late talking it out."

"And we don't have a plan for dealing with Wilson," Jason finished. "Dickiebird and little Demon Bird here are the only ones who have fought him before which complicates everything."

"I have informed you before, if I am allowed out then Wilson will find me," Damian pointed out.

" _No_ ," Jason, Dick, and Tim insisted at once, making Steph giggle and the youngest Wayne pout.

"It is a reasonable option," the boy pressed despite the fact that Steph was sure he knew he was going to lose this argument.

"It's a good way to get killed," Jason shot back. "And we're not losing you. Got it?"

"Fine," the boy huffed but there was something pleased and relieved in his big green eyes. It made Steph nudge him with her shoulder and she wasn't at all surprised when he elbowed her sharply in the ribs. Everything wasn't quite right in her world but it was getting close.

* * *

Jade woke with the baby kicking insistently in her stomach. She groaned and rolled from her side to her back, serious considering punching Roy, _again_ , for getting her pregnant even though she was the one who had agreed willingly to having sex without a condom. The baby kicked again and she gave into temptation, leaning over to smack her boyfriend. " _Ow_ ," he whined through a yawn, blinking bleary green eyes open. "What was that for?"

"Getting me pregnant," she grumbled, sitting up stiffly and cracking her back. Roy, who had quickly wised up to her quirks, didn't say anything. Instead he sat up as well and gently rubbed her shoulders. "Ahh," she sighed in relief as he worked the knots in her muscles out and relaxed. The baby's kicking eased as well, allowing the last of her tension to wash away. She rubbed a hand across her belly in silently thanks and then twisted around as best she could for a good morning kiss. "Should we head downstairs and see what the Wayne kids are up to?"

"That would probably be for the best," Roy agreed, standing and then offering her his hand.

"My white knight," she gushed with playful mocking, taking the offered hand and allowing him to draw her to his feet.

"My dark princess," Roy replied with a slight smirk. Jade smirked back and they made their way out of the room arm in arm.

* * *

Talia al'Ghul stepped into the airport, her modestly heeled black boots not making a single sound despite the cheap tile. Her neat brown hair was pinned back in a bun and a pair of wire rimmed glasses along with her business suit meant no one looked twice at her. She was simply another businesswoman making her way into Gotham to talk to one of the heads of large companies that resided in the city. She made her way through the airport without touching a single person, her bags held in her hands. She was here to see _her child_ , even if he wasn't related to her biologically, and she had killed half a dozen assassins to do so. Nothing was going to stop her.

She stepped out into the overcast Gotham and made her way past the cabs waiting for fares. Not a single cab driver glanced at her but that was the way she preferred it. She made her way two streets over and then startled a greasy looking cab driver parked outside a cafe by rapping once on his window. The man startled awake from his nap and scrambled out of the cab. He stared at her stupidly for a moment and Talia pulled off her glasses as she stared back, tossing them aside with a single careless motion. The crunch of the glass in them underneath a car's tires startled the man into motion and he hurried to open the back door of his cab for her. Talia slid inside and directed him in English with a distinctive Middle Eastern accent to take her to Wayne Manor. While the cabbie drove she undid her hair, letting it flow to her shoulders, and removed her jacket, carefully tucking it away in her luggage. Then she settled back in watchful silence, just waiting for any sign of danger.


	30. Part III, Chapter XXX

Talia al'Ghul left the cab outside the gate that shut off Wayne Manor from the rest of the world and paid the man, waiting until he had driven out of sight before smoothly climbing over the gate and stepping delicately on to the gravel driveway. After all her training and everything she had done to keep her son safe, it was a simple matter for her to make her way up to the manor without a single camera catch a glimpse of her. At last she stood in front of the front door. She rapped on it once and then carefully folded her hands together, waiting for the door to open. Alfred Pennyworth, to his credit, did not appear startled by her unexpected presence on the front step of Wayne Manor. Instead he ushered her in, shutting and latching the door behind her. "Please wait here Miss Talia," the butler told her, voice just stern enough to encourage even the most unruly child to stay put, and then turned and headed for another room. Talia remained perfectly still, not allowing any of her worry and anticipation to show on her face.

Several agonizing minutes later her son walked into view, Jason Todd standing protectively at his side. "Mother?" Damian's voice was soft and almost unsure, his whole body stiff with uncertainty that didn't make it to his eyes. Talia was so proud of him.

"Damian," she replied gently. Her son twitched as if he wanted to run to her but he resisted the urge.

"You are unharmed?" the boy inquired, the words empty. He and Talia were communicating mostly through body language at the moment and the slight twitches Damian made were enough to show his mother exactly how worried he had been about her.

"Naturally," Talia told him, stepping forward and reaching out a hand to place it on his shoulder. She watched her son's hands twitch as if he wanted to reach out and pull her close. He calmed himself with effort but leaned slightly into her touch. Talia allowed it for a moment, soaking in the sight of her only child standing before her. Her beautiful, strong, brave boy standing completely unharmed and staring at her with concern and worry written in every line of his posture. She was smoothing a hand through his hair, something she hadn't done since he was very small, before she could stop herself and the concern written in Damian's body language suddenly flared up in his eyes.

"Mother?" he asked, as if uncertain what he really wanted to know.

"I need to speak to you," she told him, drawing her hand away. She knew she only had a few hours before her father's ninjas caught up with her and by that time she needed to be far away from here. Damian nodded and reached over to take her hand, leading her down the hall into the dinning room without another word. Talia scanned the faces present, taking the ways each of Bruce's children had grown and the wary glances Oliver Queen and his thrown together family were giving her, before dismissing them all and turning to focus solely on Damian. She lifted a gentle hand and cupped his chin and said, "Your father is alive."

"I know," came the simple reply. There was no surprise in his green eyes and Talia felt her lips curve up in a slim smile as she turned her gaze to Timothy Drake for a moment before turning back to her child.

"Your grandfather set a trap for the Justice League and your father has fallen directly into it," Talia continued. "They have been keeping him in Bialya, attempting to break him, but that has failed. Therefore they are planning to move him."

"Are you offering to help rescue him?" Grayson questioned and Talia, turned her attention towards the oldest of Bruce's children. The young man's eyes were shrewd and distrustful, something she could respect from him. Most of the time she felt that Grayson was too trusting for his own good.

"Perhaps," Talia replied, lips curling up again.

"What would you want in return?" Damian asked and Talia turned her attention towards her precious boy, pride gleaming for a moment in her green eyes.

"I want to displace my father from the League of Shadows," she returned. "Is that too high a price to pay for your beloved father's safety?"

"We're not killing anyone for you Talia," Jason said, voice sharp and eyes flinty.

"Naturally," Talia returned without a bit of malice. "Do we have an agreement?" She waited patiently while the siblings exchanged glances, speaking without saying a word. At last Grayson turned to face her, huge blue eyes giving away nothing of his feelings.

"Tim will go with you and the pair of you will meet up with Cass in Hong Kong," he told Talia, his tone not allowing for any argument. "The rest of us have matters to attend to both in Gotham and with the Justice League."

"Very well," Talia told him, feeling a strange burst of pride in her chest for someone who was not her own child. "He would be proud of you," she added before turning towards the door. "Timothy, I will wait for you at the Gotham Airport for exactly one hour. If you have not arrive by then I will leave. Do you understand?"

"I understand," Tim called after her. "And I'll be there." Talia was not one of those people who felt the need to have the last word in a conversation. She ignored Timothy challenging her to leave him behind. She would keep her word, remaining in the airport for an hour hiding among the common people and then she would leave. For her son's safety, she could not remain in this city longer than that.

* * *

When Tim went upstairs to pack, Damian turned his attention towards his brothers, arms folded over his chest. "I am going out tonight."

"No," Jason growled, green eyes narrowed, but Damian was not going to back down this time. As much as he did not want to see Deathstroke the Terminator again, especially knowing what he did, this mess needed to be fixed so they could finish rescuing their father.

"As much as I don't like it, we don't have any other options," Dick cut in, eyes tired but determined. "Wilson won't expect us to let Dami out alone so we won't. We'll be with him when Wilson shows his head. It's the most we can do."

"I still don't like it," Jason grumbled. "I mean, we're using our own little brother as bait."

"I'm volunteering," Damian reminded the older boy pointedly.

"That doesn't make it better little bird," Jason retorted, obviously still testing out nicknames.

"You are not calling me the same thing Grayson calls Tim," Damian informed Jason, ignoring everything else. Dick cackled at that and Jason huffed.

"Not funny Demon Bird," Jason called after the small boy who was already heading towards the cave to train.

"I believe I like that one," Damian called back and Stephanie snickered.

"You would," the blonde said, sliding by the boys to join him and linking her arm through his as if they were school children in pigtails. Damian retaliated by elbowing her in the side and pulling his arm free but he didn't protest the comment. He was, to a certain extent, a little demon. "Want to spar?"The boy gave her a shark like smile and Steph smiled back before they vanished down the hall.

* * *

Slade Wilson crouched on the roof of one of the towering but derelict buildings of the Narrows, waiting. Hacking Batman's mainframe had been a challenge but worth the time spent on it and from there the mercenary had learned that the original Bat was still alive. Bruce Wayne's kids would be eager to rescue him which meant they would want to "deal with Slade" as soon as possible. It would make them sloppier than they ordinarily would be. Just another advantage for the mercenary. A sleek shadow crossed the night sky, Batgirl launching herself into the night, and Slade allowed a smile to cross his face beneath his mask. The first bird had flown the nest and soon the others would follow. Soon enough he would have his precious project back in his hands.

True to his predictions, the rest of the family emerged moments later, the clone lingering at the new Batman's side. Slade had to admit that as far as looking similar to the first Batman, Jason Todd had easily been the best choice. His height and bulk made it look like the same person still inhabited the cowl as had before. The criminals of Gotham wouldn't hang around long enough to discover that there was a different person inside the suit. The clone had a hood pulled up over his head, a nod towards the League of Shadows, and even from several rooftops away Slade could see the thick soled boots, so different from what the other Robins had worn. The uniform was new, not what the boy had been wearing before, but it suited him. Slade approved of it. He might even allow the child to keep it when he was finished retraining him.

It didn't take long for the bat and birds to notice him but Slade wasn't trying to hide. He was finished with sulking in shadows waiting for a chance to snatch his project. He was going to take the boy and leave before he had to face down Bruce Wayne and a Jason Todd once again allowed to pick up his guns. Robin landed silently despite his boots, covered eyes focused on Slade's. "I want you out of here," the boy snarled.

"Not without you," he mercenary replied, sparing a glance in Todd's direction before dismissing him. Nightwing was a bit more problematic but nothing he couldn't handle. "I've put too much work into you to allow it to go to waste."

"A lot of people have put a lot of work into me," the clone replied coolly. "And _they_ all know well enough not to treat me as if I am a tool." The boy huffed a little and then added, "I am finished with you whether or not you believe you are finished with me." Calmly he turned his back and added to the new Batman, "I am going to catch up to Brown. Let me know when things are finished here?"

"Of course demon bird," was the easy reply and the clone jumped smoothly off the roof as if it were nothing. Slade was not worried. He would finish up here and then track down Batgirl and the boy.


	31. Part III, Chapter XXXI

Jason knew he still wasn't completely comfortable with the cape the hinder his every move and that he would be a liability. Therefore his job in this fight would be to keep Wilson from breaking free of the battle to go after Damian. For the moment it seemed that the mercenary was content with trying to beat Dick down but Jason knew it wouldn't last. The man was only in Gotham for one purpose, to take Damian back as his apprentice like he had so long ago. Neither one was going to allow that to happen. "You're going to fail," Deathstroke hissed, tossing Nightwing away from him as if the acrobat weighed nothing. "Fail to rescue your clone, fail to rescue your father. It's a wonder you can even get up and face the morning." Jason snarled at the insult to his brother, hands clenching into fists within the heavy gauntlets, but Dick let out a rough laugh as he stood.

"You don't get it, do you Wilson? This isn't about me. It never has been and it never will be. This is about protecting other people no matter the cost. My family understands that, even if you don't." Dick launched himself at the mercenary again, never one to give up easily, and this time Jason joined him. Forget restraint, they were going to take Wilson down even if Jason got tripped up by the stupid cape or thrown off a building. The last thing Damian needed was to be forced into a partnership with a man as cruel and manipulative as Slade Wilson.

Deathstroke may have been able to anticipate a lot of Nightwing's movements but Jason was a wildcard thrown in. His fist crashed hard into the mercenary's masked face. Dick took advantage of the man's slightly stumble to attempt to sweep his feet out from under him. Of course it wasn't that simple but Wilson had faltered. They could bring him down. Jason's smile was too sharp to be anything but predatory and Dick smiled back, wide and wild. They converged on the mercenary, working together as two parts of a whole, two cogs in a machine. Their time working together as Nightwing and Red Hood in Bludhaven helped, allowing them to anticipate each other's punches and kicks. Wilson could anticipate and dodge many of their hits but they landed blows.

They twisted across the rooftop in a kind of deadly dance, Wilson landing blows on both of them. Jason knew he would have bruises when this was over with but he didn't care. Wilson had insulted and injured his family. He wasn't going to be allowed free to haunt his baby brother's every waking moment. "He has my healing factor, did you know?" Wilson inquired, ducking underneath the one escrima that Dick had managed to hang on to. "When they cloned him they spliced my genetic code in with Grayson's. He belongs to me down to the DNA."

"He doesn't belong to anyone," Jason snarled and Dick bared his teeth, landing a particularly vicious blow across the mercenary's shoulders.

"He's a person, not a _thing_ ," Nightwing growled, sounding more like Bruce than Jason had ever heard him.

"And he's entitled to the same choices as the rest of us," Jason finished, landing a blow on the man's head. Deathstroke wavered and Nightwing was on him in an instant, unleashing a flurry of blows with moves that Jason hadn't seen since the Court of Owls had lifted their heads from the shadows not long after Jason had revealed that he was alive. The mercenary went down under the onslaught and Jason knocked him out with a swift kick to the head. The pair stood over the fallen body, gasping for breath.

"Well," Dick said, voice lightening considerably. "That was fun, don't you think?"

"Thrilling," Jason agreed dryly. "Now what do we do with him?"

"Call the others back," was the easy reply. "We're all going up to the Watchtower."

"You really want to take Steph after how ticked off she was earlier?"

"We did promise her revenge," Dick reminded the new Batman, a merciless look in his eyes.

"Yeah," Jason agreed, lifting a hand to his ear. "We did."

* * *

A shadow landed whisper soft next to a figure dressed in purple and black. Stephanie Brown almost threw the figure off the roof as a reflex before the green and yellow registered fully in her mind. As it was, she still had her hand wrapped tightly around Damian's wrist as her pulse thundered in her ears. The men below, low level thugs waiting for a delivery, didn't notice the altercation above. They were just stupid like that. "Give someone a little warning before you do that," Steph hissed at him and he smirked at her.

"Nightwing and Batman are dealing with Wilson," he told her and she pretended not to notice how his shoulders tensed up when he referenced Deathstroke.

"You're not helping them beat the crap out of him?" Steph asked curiously. She had thought that Damian was the sort who would want to personally beat his demons down, like Jason had with the Joker. She had never pictured him walking away.

"I'm not," the boy said but when he turned to look at her, the blonde could see uncertainty written all over his face. "Should I be?"

"Nah," she replied with an easy smile, releasing the boy's wrist and slinging an arm around his shoulders instead as the men below them were joined by the delivery men. "Want to knock some heads?"

"Naturally," Damian replied with a sniff at her phrasing. Together Batgirl and Robin launched themselves off the ledge towards their unsuspecting victims. What followed where a flurry of blows that left Steph's blood singing and her heart racing. It was during these times that she felt fully alive and, judging by the small but fierce grin on Damian's face, the boy felt the same. They dropped their last unconscious quarries and grinned at each before Damian remembered himself and forced the smile down. Steph didn't care. This was the most time she had spent with the boy without him snarling at her or looking as if he were contemplating her demise. It was fun.

"Time to head back our direction kids," Jason announced over their comms.

"Aww," Steph whined playfully. "You're ruining all our fun here."

"You mean you don't want to yell at senior members of the Justice League?" Jason shot back.

"All right, all right," Steph replied, snatching Damian's hand and tugging him along. "We're on our way."

* * *

Clark Kent startled guiltily when when the computerized voice announced the arrival of Nightwing, Red Hood, Batgirl, and a guest. He had known he would have to face Bruce's children eventually but he had hoped it would be after the man had returned and smoothed everything out. Now it looked as if he would have to lie to the children's faces about what was going on and try to comfort them. Diana would go along with it but both J'onn and Hal had given him disapproving looks. They were avoiding him and Clark wasn't sure he blamed them. It had been a horrible decision to make but Bruce had advised subtlety and this was the best way to keep Batman's undercover mission a secret. He stood and made his way towards the central control room where the Batkids would be.

Waiting for him were Dick, Jason, Stephanie, and a small boy the Kryptonian guessed was Damian, Bruce and Talia's son. The boy was dressed in a modified Robin uniform and Tim was nowhere to be seen, both worrisome factors. "Is everything all right?" he asked, taking a step forward and reaching out as if to pull them close so he could check them over.

"I don't know," Stephanie said, placing her hands on her hips and giving him an icy glare. "Is it?" Clark hesitated, worry curling in his stomach. "Did you know Bruce is alive?" the blonde continued.

"And that he's been sending us messages that someone in the Justice League has been blocking," Dick added, sounding truly ticked off. Diana came to join them, J'onn, Hal, and Shayera following behind her.

"We knew," Hal said. "Some of us didn't approve of lying to you but we knew he was alive."

"We believed it was necessary to keep Bruce safe," Shayera said. "One slip of the tongue or misstep could get him killed."

"And you believed Father would raise children foolish enough to make a mistake?" Damian inquired, voice cold.

"You know what?" Jason snarled. "That's beside the point. All of you know what someone's death does to this family. How could you just stand by and let us fall apart at the seams?" Dick lifted a hand to Jason's shoulder, trying to calm him some.

"What we're trying to say is that we don't appreciate being lied to, especially about this." Dick's voice was ice as he surveyed the founding members of the Justice League. "We don't appreciate it when B lies to us and we don't appreciate it when you all do it. You're going to have to do a lot of work to regain our trust." Then he nudged the unconscious figure on the floor with his foot. "Take care of this for us." That said, he pulled his siblings back towards the zeta tubes.

"Do you want any help?" J'onn questioned, gesturing toward himself and Hal. Dick studied them both and then nodded once. The six of them vanished in a flash, leaving Shayera, Clark, and Diana with the slowly rousing form of Deathstroke the Terminator.


	32. Part III, Chapter XXXII

Bruce's head ached and his mouth was dry. There were burns and cuts scattered across his skin and one arm dangled uselessly at his side, broken. The heat of the day had faded away to the harsh chill of evening, leaving him shivering inside the tent where he was tied. Guards outside murmured in a language his exhausted mind couldn't even begin to identify. The shift changed every hour and with it the languages of the guards. The League of Shadows had pulled from a wide variety of contacts to capture Batman. It impressed him just as much as it irritated him. The only piece of hope he held on to was the last message he had managed to send his children. They would be looking for him and they were all stubborn enough to be able to find him.

The murmur outside the tent changed pitch and the man's eyes slowly opened, staring upwards at the canvas ceiling. Something was wrong. He could tell simply by the tone of the voices and the rapidly rising volume. Then they simply cut off. Bruce sat up as best he could, eyes fixed on the two shadows standing in front of the doorway. Early on in his incarceration he had managed to get out of his bonds and out of the tent but then had been overwhelmed by the other men Ra's had employed. They had threatened to go after his children if he tried it again and Ra's was many things but a liar was not one of them. Bruce had not tried to escape since then, not wanting to put his family in danger.

He watched as two lithe shadows took down the guards, trying determine exactly who had arrived. Then the flap pulled back and Talia stepped through, her brown braid pulled over her shoulder. Behind her was a shorter figure dressed in red and gold with a black cape and cowl. "Hey B," the figure said as Talia knelt to untie the bonds. _Tim._ Bruce let his breath out in a whoosh and Tim grinned at him.

"New costume?" the man questioned and Talia tutted under her breath as if he was being foolish. Her fingers were gentle as she helped him sit up.

"Yeah," Tim replied. "Little brother is Robin now."

"What should I call you?" Bruce asked obligingly and Tim's smile widened.

"Haven't gotten that far yet. I'll let you know when I figure it out." Tim knelt next to Bruce and Talia stood smoothly, walking towards the doorway to peer outside. "Nightwing, Robin, and Batm-I mean Red Hood are coming with Hal and J'onn."

"You didn't gather any of the other League members?" Bruce asked, voice hoarse.

"We're not talking to them," was Tim's harsh reply. "They let us think you were dead."

"There are men coming," Talia cut in before Bruce could ask what exactly had happened in his absence. He was pretty sure Tim had started to call Jason Batman and the League had let his children believe he was dead. Something had gone very wrong.

* * *

Dick crouched in the darkness, Hal Jordon next to him. Ever since their arrival at the League, Earth's first Green Lantern appeared upset. The young man rocked back on his heels, watching for the signal to attack from Talia. The eight of them had agreed that it would do no good to move in until Talia and Tim had confirmed that Bruce was actually in the camp. On the complete other side of the camp were Jason, in his Batsuit, with Damian at his side, the two of them probably playfully debating murder. Flanking them on either side were Stephanie as Batgirl and J'onn J'onz, all waiting for the signal the al'Ghul heir would provide. "What's on your mind?" Dick questioned, not taking his eyes away from the camp. He knew from experience that worry and guilt made it difficult to be an effective fighter. If the mind was worried then it was not fully focused on paying attention to what was going on around the person.

"I'm sorry for agree to keep Bruce's status a secret," Hal apologized. "It was a terrible thing to do to all of you."

"We don't blame you," Dick replied, glancing back towards the man with a soft smile. "You were outvoted and forced into agreement. And you came to help us. That goes a long way towards reaching our good favor."

"That still doesn't excuse what I did," was Hal's response.

Dick hesitated, unsure of how to respond, and then turned to actually turned to look the man full in the face. "Bruce's father used to say we fall so we can learn to pick ourselves back up," he said at last. "It means we learn from our mistakes. If you didn't feel sorry about what you'd done, then I'd worry." A sudden blaze of fire caught their attention and they turned to see one of the tents burning. "I think that's the signal."

"I think you're probably right," Hal agreed and the two moved swiftly from the shadows, lunging into battle. This wasn't anything Dick hadn't done a hundred times before and since it was for Bruce, there were no arguments. His siblings worked in tandem, smiles fierce and movements determined. The men scattered before them, crumpling to the ground, allowing them to escape. The Batplane, that Tim had somehow convinced Talia to take to Bialya, lifted off and Dick allowed himself to untense, stepping around Damian and Jason to where his adopted father was laying. Bruce was pale from days away from sunlight and the young man could see broken bones, bruises, and cuts scattered across the man's body.

"Bruce," he murmured, crouching down next to him. "You're alive." He felt tears slipping down his cheeks as Bruce ran a gentle hand through your hair.

"I'm so sorry, for all of this," the man said, his voice hoarse.

"Wasn't your fault B," Jason called, pushing the cowl back from his face. "Don't even start with that."

"Yeah," Dick agreed, feeling nothing but relief. "Don't apologize for be alive. Please don't."

"That would be exceptionally foolish," Damian agreed from Jason's side. Stephanie snorted, nursing her bruised knuckles, and slid around to boys to kiss Bruce on the cheek.

"You have to stay alive for a lot longer B," she cheerfully informed him. "It's chaos without you." That said, she turned on her heel and headed for the cockpit where Tim was, only pausing to ruffle Damian's hair.

"She's right," Dick agreed with a watery smile. "We're a mess without you."

* * *

"I really hate Gotham," Roy muttered as he and Oliver stepped into the Batcave. The sun had risen an hour ago but the pair had been stuck in the streets dealing with a gang of Carmine Falcone's men. Roy felt tired down to his bones and he wanted nothing more than to sink into a bed and drift off to sleep. His eyes felt as if they were made of sand and bruises throbbed with every step. For the first time in a long time, he found himself missing the familiarity of Starling.

"Is it always like this?" Oliver questioned, removing his mask to reveal dark circles surrounding his eyes.

"Every time Jason dragged us here it's been like this," Roy admitted, failing to fight down a wide yawn. "I don't know how the Batclan does it."

"Lots of practice," Barbara Gordon announced over the computer, her voice full of humor. "And tons of coffee. Get some rest guys, you've earned it." Then the computer switched off, leaving the pair in silence. Roy mechanically stripped off his gear, carefully packing it away in preparation for leaving. He was planning to join Jade at her apartment once Dick, Jason, Damian, Tim, Stephanie, and Talia returned to Gotham with Bruce. His job here would be finished and he wanted to spend time with his fiance before Jason got restless again and dragged he and Kory off on some crazy adventure. Oliver did the same but Roy could tell by the look on his old mentor's face that the man wanted to say something.

"What?" he asked at last, knowing that if he didn't push Oliver would just brood about whatever was bothering him.

"You're going to stay with Jade?" Oliver questioned.

"I was planning on it," Roy replied cautiously and watched with some amusement as Oliver shifted a little uncomfortably. "Why?" he pressed, trying to hide his smirk.

"You could, uh, you could come visit. Felicity would like to see you."

"I'll keep that in mind," Roy replied dryly, no longer able to force to smirk off his face.

"Brat," came the fond reply as Oliver clapped a hand on Roy's shoulder before heading for the stairs. Roy grinned tiredly and followed his old mentor into the manor.


	33. Part III, Chapter XXXIII

It was good to be home. Bruce made his way carefully down the stairs to find his children saying good bye to Oliver Queen, Jade Nguyen, and Roy Harper. Bruce and Oliver had spoken the night before, despite the Wayne patriarch's obvious exhaustion and the disapproving looks from Alfred, and agreed that they were going to have a serious talk with the other Justice League members about secret mission protocol when dealing with families. Bruce had also let go of his pride long enough to thank Queen for dropping everything to come help his family. Queen had shrugged in response. Now the man waited patiently by the door while Roy and Jason exchanged sarcastic comments and Dick rolled his eyes at them. At last the door shut and his children turned only to startle when they saw him standing at the foot of the stairs.

Dick broke into a wide grin, scrambling across the empty space to hug him tightly and bury his head in Bruce's shoulder. Jason smirked at the man but there was genuine happiness in his eyes as he slung an arm over Damian's shoulders. The youngest boy wasn't smiling outright but his eyes were gleaming with the same happiness as Jason's did. Tim was grinning openly, his expression bright. He had an arm around Stephanie's waist and she was giggling over the fact that Dick was refusing to release Bruce.

"You do realize he hasn't eaten anything yet?" the blonde asked, eyes sparkling with joy. Cass snorted from a doorway and shook her head slightly as Dick released Bruce, flushing slightly. The man ruffled his oldest son's hair and then gently pulled his daughter in for a hug. They pulled apart after a moment and she kissed his cheek before standing shoulder to shoulder with Dick who smiled lightly at her.

"So, Batman?" Bruce asked after a moment, arching and eyebrow at Jason.

"It would have destroyed Dick," his second child snapped defensively. "And passing the cowl on to him in a video? Totally a jerk move."

"I know," Bruce said. "The messages I left hurt you all in some way. For that I am sorry." His children nodded, their expressions becoming solemn, and Jason pulled Damian closer as if trying to protect him from an unknown threat. Bruce felt regret twist in his gut at that. He had recorded the video wills close to two years ago and left them tucked away in the Batcomputer, even knowing the words were stilted and heartless. He had never really meant for his children to watch them. "And I wasn't judging you Jason. I'm grateful for what you've done."

Jason studied him warily and then nodded at last. That settled, he turned towards Damian. The boy wasn't protesting Jason's protective arm around him, which was new. Ever since Talia had left the boy on the doorstep of Wayne Manor and ran, Damian had been as prickly as a cactus. He had shunned physical contact and threatened bodily harm to anyone who attempted so much as a hug. To see him easily accepting it from someone now was both awe inspiring and relieving. "I'm sorry for what I said to you in my message," he apologized, eyes only for his son. "You are my son, regardless of whether or not we share the same blood." To his surprise, that was all it took. Damian lunged across the empty space between them and hugged him tightly. The boy was murmuring something against his rib cage. It took him a moment to realize the boy was repeating "I love you" as a mantra under his breath.

* * *

Jason packed the last of his supplies in a duffel bag and zipped the top, turning to see Damian standing in the doorway. If he was honest, he had been expecting this. He and Damian had grown close over weeks they'd worked together. "You are leaving?" The words were formal but Jason could clearly hear the plea not to be abandoned in the boy's voice.

"I have to help your mom sort things out with Ra's," Jason replied easily, shouldering the duffel. "I'll be back in a few days."

"And back to not talking to us," Damian said, glancing down at the floor.

"Hey, I didn't say that." Jason dropped his bag on the floor and crossed to the doorway, placing a hand on his little brother's shoulder. "I'll be back as soon as Talia gets everything settled. After all, I can't leave my Robin behind." He watched, pleased, as a small smile slipped on to the boy's before he could stop it.

"You had better come back in one piece Todd," the boy said, fixing an irritated scowl on his face almost as soon as he realize he was smiling. "I cannot have people saying that _my_ Batman is an incompetent fool."

"You've got it kid," Jason agreed with a grin, ruffling Damian's hair and then dodging the hit the tiny assassin aimed at the offending hand. "And give B a chance, okay demon bird?"

"Okay," Damian agreed.

"Good boy." Jason patted his head and the boy growled.

" _Todd_!"

"See you later kid," Jason called, grabbing his bag and slipping past his brother. Damian didn't demean himself enough to shout after his older brother but Jason was sure it was a close thing.

Talia was waiting for him in the entryway, a sword strapped across her back. "Are you ready?" she questioned and Jason grinned.

"Definitely. Let's do this."

* * *

Damian wandered into the entryway, a forlorn look on his face, just as Tim was preparing to leave. Dick was taking his bags out to the car and the pair of them were heading to San Francisco. Dick had offered to help Tim start a team of his own. Eager to start making a name for himself, Tim had agreed and Bruce had approved it, leaving the pair to pack up. Cass was riding with them to the airport and then heading back to Hong Kong, her main base of operations. She had stayed to help during the mess but she had her own missions to work on. "Hey," the older boy said awkwardly, still not quite sure how to interact with his little brother. He and Damian seemed to have come to some sort of true but Tim wasn't eager to mess things up between them.

"You're leaving?" the boy asked, looking rather like an abandoned puppy. It dawned on Tim then that Jason had left with Talia and Dick was leaving with Tim. That meant Damian was being left behind in the huge house with Bruce and Alfred.

"Dick and I are going to start up a team in San Francisco," Tim said, squirming a little before adding, "Do you want to come with us?"

"Of course not," Damian huffed defensively but he didn't stalk off.

"I'll leave a spot open for you then. When you get to the point when you decide you want to step away from our siblings and make your own name, or if you just want to escape for a bit, you can come find me." Damian smiled at him, the first genuine smile the boy had ever directed towards Tim.

"Okay," the boy agreed. "Thank you."

"Hey Timmy, are you coming or not?" Dick yelled from outside and Tim rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm coming," he yelled at his older brother before turning back to Damian. "Call me if you need anything." He left, scrambling out of the manor before Damian could grumble at him that he didn't need help. The sun gleamed overhead, a rarity for Gotham, and the sight made the young man grin. Bruce was alive and his family were all in one piece. For the first time in a long time, Tim felt that everything was going right.

**End Part Three**


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